


Tintagel Castle

by i-wanna-be-your-last (hmweasley)



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bit of homophobia, M/M, there isn't much payzer at all but it is there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-20
Updated: 2013-07-24
Packaged: 2017-12-12 11:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 33,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/811021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hmweasley/pseuds/i-wanna-be-your-last
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry wasn't too thrilled to be uprooted from Holmes Chapel to the small village of Tintagel, known for its castle ruins that are associated with Arthurian legend.  Nothing about living in this "tourist trap" is appealing to Harry at all until he meets a certain boy working in the souvenir shop at the ruins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> As the tags say, there will be a bit of Payzer in this story, but it's really only about two chapters. I'll give warning about it, so that you can skip those parts if you'd like.
> 
> I've been writing this story for months now, so I'm a bit anxious to finally be posting it. I hope you all enjoy it.

Harry had to wonder what exactly his mother had been thinking. Not only had she uprooted them from Holmes Chapel, but she'd decided that moving to Tintagel less than a week before school started would be a great idea. Never mind the fact that he was leaving every single one of his friends behind, he also hadn't had much time to adjust before he was being thrown into a new school.

Anne had just told Harry one day that she wanted a change of scenery. Tintagel had drawn his mum in with its population of under 2000, proximity to the sea, and it's famous castle ruins. Anne hadn't been too thrilled when Harry began describing it as a tourist trap. But it was. Every summer tons of tourists flocked the small town to visit the castle ruins that were forever linked to King Arthur through the famous myths. Take out the castle ruins and you were left with a small village with absolutely nothing going on.

Harry had tried to maintain a positive outlook. Who could complain about living near the sea and having castle ruins nearby that you could explore (if you were willing to pay the money to get in)? But Harry hadn't enjoyed leaving his friends behind, and in the few days they'd been in Tintagel, he'd managed to meet one person close to his age: his neighbor Liam Payne.

Liam seemed nice, but he wasn't the kind of guy Harry would have been friends with at his old school. However, Harry was starting to believe that that didn't matter.

Today was Harry's first day of school. Since Tintagel had no school above primary, he was forced to attend school half an hour away in Wadebridge. As Liam was also attending Wadebridge, he'd offered to give Harry a ride so that he could avoid the bus. Harry was thankful.

Harry made his way through the small house, giving his mum a quick goodbye kiss, and out the front door to the neighbor's driveway where Liam was already sitting behind the wheel of his car.

"Just in time." Liam was far too cheerful in the morning. "I was about to go knock on the door if you didn't come out soon." Harry glanced at the clock to see that it was just a little after eight, the exact time Liam had asked Harry to be ready to leave. If they left now, they'd arrive at school with more than half an hour to spare.

Liam seemed to sense Harry's confusion. "I like getting there early. More time to talk to people." Harry had never seen someone become so happy at the mere thought of getting to speak to people he saw every single day.

"Every day?" Harry asked in slight shock.

"Yep. You'll get used to it. Or you can always ride the bus," Liam joked.

Harry scoffed quietly, turning his head so Liam couldn't see. Liam was the closest thing Harry had to a friend at the moment, and Harry wasn't about to screw that up. Besides, Harry really did like Liam. The boy was endearing, and Harry had a feeling he would become even fonder of the boy as time went on.

If he hadn't been so nervous about his first day, Harry probably would have slept the whole way to school. As it was, he was forced to follow a much too awake Liam into the building having gotten no more sleep than he had prior to getting into the car a half hour earlier.

Once inside, Harry encountered an awkward moment where he had to decide whether to tag along with Liam or seperate from him to wander off alone. The decision was made for him when Liam glanced over his shoulder at him. "Harry!" he exclaimed. "Come on! I'll introduce you to people."

Harry wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Liam's friends. The boy was friendly enough that Harry figured he would be on friendly terms with most of the school. Harry could imagine Liam being fairly popular. Harry figured Liam's closest friends would be the same. As it turned out, Harry couldn't have been more wrong. The cluster of teens that Liam pulled Harry toward immediately began inspecting him with harsh, judging looks that Harry couldn't ever imagine seeing on Liam's own face, which was always open and cheerful.

The lone female of the group was the first to smile at him, although it wasn't a very warm smile. Harry'd never understood what people meant when they said someone looked at someone else as if they "were a piece of meat," but now it made perfect sense. Nothing else could quite describe the look that startled Harry more than he'd like to admit.

"So this is your new neighbor, Liam." The girl's voice sounded full of dark delight. "Bonjour," Harry noticed a collective eye roll by the group when she spoke in French. "I'm Jacqueline," she introduced herself. "But you can just call me Jackie."

"Nice to meet you." Harry hoped he was the only one who could hear the way his voice waivered.

Jackie offered him one last smile before turning to the three boys behind her. "Don't be shy, guys. Introduce yourselves." Before they even had a chance to respond, she was speaking again. "This is Bo." She motioned towards a mischievous looking boy currently leaning against a locker who nodded towards Harry.

"Curtis." This time she pointed to a muscely, quiet looking boy who offered Harry the closest thing to a smile he'd recieved from the group.

"And finally, Ross," Jackie concluded while motioning to the red-head that stood out amongst his darker haired friends.

"Hey," Ross stuck his hand out for a shake. "Jackie wouldn't admit this of course, but I'm kind of the ring-leader of our little group."

Jackie shook her head in mock defiance, but Bo quickly stepped in. "We decided that when we were seventh years, Ross. We're past your little tricks to over power us. Get over the whole 'leader' thing."

Harry could tell that this was quickly escalading into an argument, but Liam seemed to know just when to interrupt. "Guys," he stepped the middle of his group of friends. "It's not that big of a deal." Harry supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Liam would be the peace keeper of the group. "I'm going to show Harry around. I'll see you guys soon!" He smiled cheerfully at his mates before motioning for Harry to follow him.

Liam spent the next half hour showing Harry various parts of the school. Most of it was actually useful information, but the way this tour made the other students stare left Harry wishing Liam had just turned him loose and let him find things on his own.

One positive of the tour was that Harry was able to find his classes with relative ease for the rest of the day. In fact, Harry was able to fit in quite easily as the day went on. As it was the first day of school, there were a number of kids attending Wadebridge for the first time. The only difference for these students was the fact that they all had their previous group of friends from secondary, and with all of the first day excitement, no one seemed particularly eager to befriend the new kid that they most likely didn't even realize was new.

He made it through the beginning of the day just fine, but he became a little unsure of himself at lunchtime. Harry was careful to not run into Liam. It seemed a bit backwards as Liam was still Harry's only friend here, but Liam's friends hadn't made that great of an impression on him. Harry didn't think he wanted to put up with them for the whole lunch period. Instead, he decided to really try making friends for the first time that day.

After grabbing some food, Harry surveyed the room looking for the group that seemed the most promising. He still hadn't made a decision when a voice spoke up from right behind him, "You can sit with us."

Harry, who hadn't been expecting to hear an Irish accent, was slightly startled as he turned to the two boys sitting at the table. He knew immediately that the blond, who was smiling up at him brightly, had been the one to speak. The other boy was darker haired and hardly glanced up at Harry as he offered him a slight nod of acknowledgment.

"Um, thanks," Harry replied awkwardly as he sat his tray down across from the two boys. "I'm Harry."

"Niall," the blond boy spoke. He turned expectantly towards the other boy.

A few moments of silence passed before the boy glanced up to see both Harry and Niall watching him expectantly. "Zayn," he finally offered before he returned to disinterested silence.

Harry nodded in confirmation. "Nice to meet you guys."

It didn't take long for Harry to discover that Niall never shut up. The Irish boy rarely stopped for a breath, and Zayn seemed perfectly content to sit there quietly and let the other boy speak. Niall also seemed to be friends with the entire school. He took it upon himself to point out various people and tell Harry a bit about each one. Many times, Niall had no problem yelling to the person from all the way across the cafeteria to get their attention and introduce them to Harry. No one seemed bothered by this. Not once did Harry see people reacting to Niall's loud voice unless it was their name being shouted. And everyone seemed more than happy to respond to the boy. Harry could tell that Niall was well liked by everyone. Niall was the person that instantly cheered up those around him. Harry cringed when he thought of the expression "ball of sunshine," but that really did seem to fit Niall.

Unfortunately, Harry didn't know how much sunshine he could take in one day. He liked Niall. Harry even thought they could become friends, but Harry couldn't see himself becoming particularly close to a boy as loud and energetic as Niall. It was too tiring.

After asking Harry a bit about himself, Niall began to tell Harry about his life in Ireland before he moved to England after his parent's divorce. Harry listened intently at first, but he also began to scrutinize Zayn, who had hardly said a word the entire time Harry had been sitting at the table.

The boy seemed friendly enough, but Harry also got a bit of a reserved vibe from him. Harry figured Zayn had a much smaller group of friends than Niall. Harry wondered if it was shyness or just because Zayn didn't have anything to say. Maybe if he got to know Zayn, it would be different. Then Harry began to wonder if he actually wanted to get to know Zayn. Maybe it was the perfectly styled hair, but Harry got the feeling Zayn was the type of person to really worry about his appearance. Harry, on the other hand, thought such people were absurd. Sure, a certain amount of pride in your appearance was important, but he didn't appreciate people who took it overboard. Harry figured there was even more to it than that though. There was just something about Zayn that kept Harry from wanting to be friends.

Still, the two boys had been kind enough to ask Harry to sit with them, or at least Niall had, Zayn hadn't really done anything. Harry figured he should try and at least humour them for the lunch period. From then on he could settle for brief conversations in the hallways. He didn't plan on becoming best friends with these two. They just weren't the type of people Harry chose to hang out with.

Harry was thankful when the lunch period was over, and he was able to get away from the hyper Irish boy and the quiet vain boy to continue on with his day. He didn't make any more progress on the "making friends" front for the rest of the day though. In every one of his classes, friend groups seemed to be established, and everyone was much too caught up with catching up with old friends that they didn't even consider making new ones. Harry just had to hope that that would change over the next couple of days. After getting caught up with old friends, maybe some people would be ready for new ones.

By the time he got home that afternoon, Harry wasn't feeling incredibly thrilled with the way the day had went. Luckily his mother was still at work, so he didn't have to bypass the stereotypical, "How did your day go, honey?" Instead he was able to make his way up to his roon and flop down on his bed without being disturbed. At the moment he was thankful that they'd brought his bed from Holmes Chapel with them. It was warm and comforting, just what he needed at the moment.

It wasn't that Harry thought his entire exsistence would be miserable here in Tintagel. He was optimistic enough to know that things would improve, but that didn't stop him from feeling a bit miserable just then. Afterall, he missed home, and his neighbor was his closest friend here by nothing more than circumstance.

Once Harry decided he'd wallowed in his misery enough, he debated calling some of his friends back in Holmes Chapel. He decided against it though when the mere thought made him want to flop down on the bed again and wallow in homesickness some more. Instead he found himself wandering down the street just a few minutes later with not a clue where he was going.

Within a few minutes Harry realized he was strolling towards Tintagel Castle, the ruins that Harry had heard a lot about in his short time here but hadn't actually visited. It sounded like a typical tourist trap where visitors paid money to stare at an old building that was crumbling away. Harry could appreciate history, but he didn't understand paying a fee to walk around an old castle. At the same time he needed some way to get his mind off of things, and after checking his pockets, he figured he had enough money to get in.

The castle ruins weren't that far out of town. He passed by the lot where all the tourists were asked to park their cars, another expense that Harry was thankful he didn't have to pay, and he continued walking along Castle Road behind a family of tourists who he had seen getting out of their car as he approached.

Despite his cynicism about its touristy nature, even Harry was a bit in awe of the ruins when they came into view. There was something about them that demanded respect. You could just tell that this had once been a place inhabited by powerful people even though much of it was gone. The few walls that remained standing somehow showed off their once important status even as they looked ready to tople down at a moment's notice. Maybe it had something to do with the 100 steps Harry had to take to reach the entrance to the ruins, but the whole place just gave of the impression that this was a place meant to be revered.

The place proved to be more captivating than Harry had expected. He soon lost track of time and was startled when his stomach growled, alerting him that it was about time he should be heading back home. On his way out Harry spotted the gift shop that was mandatory in places such as these. As tempted as Harry was to scoff and walk right past it, something pulled him towards the small building. It couldn't hurt to check it out he figured even though the entrance fee had left him with only a couple of pounds left in his pocket.

The shop was indeed full of the stereotypical souvenirs that tourists were quaranteed to snap up on their visits. The trinkets that they would think of as unique and special, a memory of the wonderful time they'd had, when in fact they were nothing more than overpriced gifts that had been bought by countless other tourists before them.

Harry was just about to exit the shop when he caught sight of a boy not much older than himself standing behind the counter. He appeared bored as he stared off into space, waiting for a customer to approach him, and Harry found himself compelled to speak to the boy. Here was as good a chance as any at making some more friends here.

Quickly deciding against heading straight to the counter and looking like an overeager idiot, Harry turned towards a small display of key rings. £3.00 for the stupid thing! Harry glanced back at the boy who was now fumbling with a random scrap of paper in boredom. With a sigh, Harry lifted one of the key rings from the rack and trudged over to the counter.

It took a few seconds for the other boy to realize that someone was standing in front of him. When the boy finally looked up, Harry was startled by how blue his eyes were. He wondered if the boy's tan skin helped them stand out like that because he'd never seen eyes that vibrant before.

"Can I help you?" Harry had been so drawn in by the boy's eyes that the question startled him. He finally focused on the boy's whole face and noticed that he was watching him expectantly. Harry's brain slowly put together that the boy had been the one to talk.

Harry cleared his throat nervously. "Um, yeah. I'd like to buy this, please." He layed the key ring on the counter.

The boy looked down at the key ring with a smirk.

Harry felt himself getting defensive. "What?"

"You just don't seem like the type," the boy shrugged.

Harry's brow furrowed. "What type?"

"The type to come into a gift shop and buy one of these stupid key rings," the boy explained.

Harry cringed. He couldn't explain that he'd picked it up just to talk to the boy. He shrugged in an attempt to appear nonchalant. "I figured my mum would like it," he lied.

The nameless boy didn't question him although Harry could tell by his smirk that he wasn't fooled. "Couldn't she pick out something from the gift shop on her own?"

It took Harry a moment to realize that the boy probably thought he was just a tourist traveling with his family.

"She's not here," he explained. "I just moved to Tintagel recently. I decided I ought to check this place out. See what it's like."

The boy looked up from the cash register with a new look of interest.

"Really?" he smiled. "Well, I'm sorry to inform you that Tintagel is quite the boring little village. Unless you're really into castle ruins and tourists that is."

Harry let out a chuckle before sticking out his hand for the boy to shake. "I'm Harry by the way."

"Louis," the boy answered while accepting Harry's offered hand.

"Do you go to Wadebridge?" Maybe Harry had finally made another friend he could talk to at school besides Liam.

"Uh, no," Louis sighed. "Graduated last year. I'm saving up for uni. This isn't the funnest job in the world, but I'm getting paid enough that I just may have enough to get by after this year.

Harry tried to hide his disappointment. At least he could still have a friend around town.

"It seems like a neat place to work," Harry commented. "Beats a shopping center at any rate."

Louis' smile widened. "I suppose," he answered in amusement.

Harry lingered for a moment, unsure if he should try to lengthen the conversation or not. "Well, I should be going," I finally spoke. "Lots of studying to do. I'll see you around town then I guess." He offered the boy a bright smile that he was happy to see was returned.

"I'm sure you will," Louis' eyes seemed to light up as he spoke.

On his way home Harry couldn't get his mind off of Louis. He seemed far more intriquing than anyone Harry had yet to meet since the move. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad here after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry wasn't too thrilled to be uprooted from Holmes Chapel to the small village of Tintagel, known for its castle ruins that are associated with Arthurian legend. Nothing about living in this “tourist trap” is appealing to Harry at all until he meets a certain boy working in the souvenir shop at the ruins.

Harry had seen Louis around town twice since their first encounter a month ago. Each time they had exchanged nothing other than a quick hello. Each time Louis seemed eager to get away. Harry had no idea why he was so interested in a boy that didn't appear to be interested in him, but Harry was determined to befriend Louis no matter how long it took.

About a week after he'd met Louis, Harry had really started to wonder about his feelings for the boy he barely knew. Was it normal to be this determined to make a friend? At this point, Harry had given up on staying away from Zayn and Niall. They had consistently went out of their way to include Harry, and regardless of his original feelings towards them, Harry knew that he couldn't blow them off when they were so kind to him. He'd even admit that they were beginning to grow on him as well.

However, Zayn and Niall lived half an hour away in Wadebridge, which left Liam as Harry's only friend in Tintagel. Since Liam had his own group of friends that Harry wanted no part of, Harry's free time was largely spent either alone or driving all the way to Wadebridge to see Zayn and Niall. Harry supposed he should have searched harder for more friends from Tintagel, but Louis occupied his thoughts too much. He would become friends with that boy.

Harry, who was usually good at understanding his own feelings, could tell that his feelings weren't entirely platonic. He'd be lying if he said the thought of the boy didn't excite him in a way that straight men are not excited by other men. The thought scared him a bit. He had wondered about his sexuality a few times in the past, but nothing had ever made him seriously question the fact that he may not be straight. Louis was ruining that though. The thing was, Harry couldn't bring it in himself to be scared. If anything it filled him with an insane curiousity that made him want to get close to Louis even more.

"See you later," Harry said as he left Liam at the front door of the school. It had become their usual routine over the month. Harry would then go to his locker where Niall would come bounding over with more energy than the early hour warranted, and a few minutes later Zayn would amble over at a much more reasonable pace. It was a routine that Harry hadn't been fond of at first, but now Harry found himself smiling when the blonde Irish boy came into view.

As Niall began going on about something or other, Harry glanced over to Liam with his group of friends. They seemed to be pointing at someone walking by, saying things that were no doubt hurtful. One thing Harry had learned in his month at Wadebridge was that Liam's group of friends weren't well-liked by most of the school. Niall had informed him not long after Harry had arrived that Liam's friends were known for their bullying, and no one knew why such a well-liked, kind boy like Liam was friends with them. It was just one of life's mysteries though, and no one really questioned it. Liam had always hung out with them.

Niall followed Harry's gaze to see Liam's friends now lost in laughter. Liam, for his part, didn't look at all amused, and Harry thought he might be about to scold his friends if he wasn't worried about the backlash.

"It's kind of sad. Isn't it?" Harry looked at Niall questioningly before the blonde boy continued. "It's just that you can tell that Liam doesn't belong there. I've been paying more attention to him lately since I know you guys are friends. He always looks like he's in pain whenever those arseholes hurt someone, yet he never does anything. It's almost as if he's too nice to hurt his so-called friends, so he just lets them hurt other people instead."

"That's actually the perfect way to describe it, Niall," Harry said as Zayn wandered towards them.

"Are we discussing Liam again, then?" Zayn asked upon realizing who they were watching. The other boys nodded in confirmation. "Harry," Zayn continued. "Why don't you just ask him to sit with us at lunch or something?"

Niall seemed to think this was a brilliant idea, but Harry looked at them oddly. "And upset the social order?" he asked. "Since when do kids just randomly decide not to sit with their usual group for lunch?" He continued before they could even answer. "Never unless there's drama. If not, it just starts drama. He wouldn't agree."

"But it's because of that narrow-minded type of thinking that things are like that," Niall stated matter-of-factly. "Who cares? If they get worked up over it, which I'm sure that group will, then maybe it'll save Liam the trouble of being their friend for much longer."

To Niall and Zayn this seemed to make perfect sense. Harry wasn't so sure. Drama wasn't something he needed after just starting at Wadebridge, and he was sure Liam's friends could bring a lot of it.

"I'll ask him if you don't want to."

Before Harry could even process Niall's offer, the Irish boy was making his way over to Liam's locker. His friends seemed to have dispersed, so Liam was thankfully alone.

Harry hurried after his friend with Zayn trailing behind as well.

"Hey, Liam," Niall greeted the somewhat shocked boy. Niall's friendliness meant that he'd spoken to Liam in the past, but Harry didn't think Liam was used to the blonde boy purposefully seeking him out in the morning before class.

"Um. Hi, Niall," Liam offered the boy a hesitant smile before nodding slightly at Harry and Zayn as well.

Niall wasted no time. "We were wondering if you'd like to sit with us during lunch today."

Liam had turned back towards his locker after greeting them, but at Niall's words he looked up sharply and gave the boy a confused look. There was a moment of silence as Liam looked unsure of how to answer. He began fumbling with his bag to keep from looking at the other three boys.

"Uh," he finally began. "It's not that I don't want to sit with you guys, but I just- What brought this on?"

Niall looked back at the other boys as if unsure how to answer that question, but all they could do was offer unhelpful shrugs. They couldn't say, "Liam, your friends are arseholes," and what other excuses did they have to suddenly ask them to sit with them.

Luckily, Niall was good at thinking on his feet. "You had Mrs. Briggs last year, right? I'm having trouble in her class. Would you mind going over some things with me at lunch?"

Liam seemed a bit suspicious, but he agreed easily enough before leaving them behind to get to his first class.

"Good job, Niall," Harry said.

Zayn agreed, "I'm impressed. I never would have been able to come up with something like that."

"Yeah, well don't congratulate me too much," Niall rolled his eyes. "He definitely knows something's up. Mrs. Briggs is one of the easiest teachers I've ever had." He began walking towards his registration class muttering, "Why did I say Mrs. Briggs? Mr. Hansen is much more difficult."

"At least he's sitting with us and not those other buggers," Zayn shrugged as he began following behind Niall.

Harry laughed a little. "Whatever works," he agreed before heading off the opposite way towards his own class.

"So, Niall," Liam began almost as soon as he'd set his tray down directly across from the blonde. "What exactly do you need help with?"

Niall looked up from his food. Harry could almost see the gears in his head turning as he tried to come up with a lie, and one that was hopefully more believable than the last.

"Er, I didn't understand anything about-" Harry drowned out the rest of Niall's words, turning instead toward Zayn. He noticed the boy's gaze was on Liam's usual table. Turning around Harry saw Liam's friends looking slightly annoyed at the change in their usual routine.

"They look as friendly as always," Harry mumbled as he turned back towards his tray. Zayn shot him an amused grin as he took a bite of his chicken.

Liam seemed completely oblivious to his friends' reactions. He was now talking animatedly to Niall, and it didn't take long before all four boys were talking about things completely unrelated to the school work Niall had pretended to need help with. Liam fit in easily with their small group, and Harry couldn't help but think that he'd be far better off if this arrangement was made permanent. Liam's friends didn't seem prepared to let that happen though. Harry kept himself from glancing at them anymore until he went to put his tray up towards the end of lunch. They were still watching Harry and his friends intently, not at all pleased.

After lunch Harry found himself walking through the halls with Liam, whose next class happened to be in the same direction as Harry's. They were joking around as usual until Liam spotted someone and immediately tensed up.

"What?" Harry asked. "What is it?"

"Um, nothing," Liam stumbled over his words. "It's nothing at all. Let's just keep going."

Harry shot Liam a quizzical look. "It is something. Or someone I expect. Who did you just see?"

"No one." By now Liam was bright red, but Harry didn't plan on giving up that easily. Something told him this was interesting information.

"You definitely saw someone. Who?"

"Fine," Liam relented. "It was a girl. Her name's Danielle."

"You like her," Harry smirked.

"A little," Liam muttered clearly embarassed. He sighed when he noticed Harry's skeptical expression. "Fine. I like her a lot. I've had crush on her for two years, in fact." Now that he'd started Liam seemed to not be able to stop himself from admitting everything to Harry. "I told the guys about it, and Bo said she was way out of my league. They wouldn't stop taking the mickey out of me for days."

Harry's smile softened. "Liam, I'm not going to antagonize you about it."

Now it was Liam's turn to look skeptical.

"I'm not," Harry feigned offense. "I'm just going to get you a date with her."

Liam's shock prevented him from reacting for a short moment. "What!? No, no, definitely not."

Harry's eyes were scanning the hall. "Is it that girl over there?" Harry pointed to an attractive girl digging through her locker ten feet away. Liam didn't answer, but a glance in his direction told Harry that he'd guessed correctly.

"Don't worry," he assured his friend. "I won't say anything to her." Liam's relief was short-lived when Harry added, "You're going to ask her yourself."

"No," Liam shook his head. "I can't. I can't do it."

"You don't have to today," Harry smiled. "But you will." He continued down the hall, knowing Liam would follow. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. She'll say yes. I know she will."

After school that day Harry decided that it was about time he called Gemma. He hadn't spoken to her in about a week, and if the voice message she had left him when he missed her call the day before hinted at anything, she wasn't very happy about it.

"How are those two boys you told me about? Zayn and Niall?" she asked after the customary scolding for not calling sooner.

"You were right," he informed her with a bit of reluctance. "Befriending them was a good idea. They've grown on me, and they're good friends."

Harry could practically hear her smile through the phone. "Told you so," she said in a sing-song voice.

"And they even got Liam to eat lunch with us today instead of the gits he calls friends," he informed her. Harry had told her all about his dislike for Liam's friends after he'd first met them.

"Good for them. That boy sounds far too nice to be hanging around with any arseholes."

"He is," Harry agreed. "I just don't get it."

"You never know what could have happened in the years before you got to Tintagel," she reminded him. "I'm sure he's been friends with those kids since primary school, maybe even nursery school. We become a bit blind to people's true natures when we've known them that long, I think. He may not even realize just how bad they are. Maybe you could talk to him?"

"Oh yeah," Harry responded sarcastically. "It's so easy to tell a guy that his best mates are horrible."

Gemma laughed on the other end of the line. "I'm sure things will work out." It was silent for a moment before Gemma said, "Whatever happened to that Louis boy you mentioned that one time? You haven't mentioned him in a month or so."

Harry sighed, "Because I haven't said anything more than hi to him for the past month. I've ran into him twice, and both times he seemed eager to get away from me. I don't know what's going on. He seemed fine the first time we met."

It felt good to actually share this with someone. He hadn't so much as mentioned Louis to Liam, Zayn, or Niall. Harry wasn't sure why he was so eager to keep it from them, but something kept him from being open. For some reason though he didn't have any qualms about sharing his frustration with his sister.

"Well," she said after a moment of thought. "I'm sorry to say that he sounds like an arsehole."

"I don't think that's it." Harry had no idea why he was so quick to defend a boy he hardly knew. "There has to be another reason. I just know that there's more to it than him being a tosser."

"Maybe so." Gemma didn't sound very convinced. "Don't stress about it though, Harry. If he won't talk to you, then just shrug it off. There's no use getting worked up over it. You've made three great friends already. So what if this one doesn't work out? I don't know why you're so determined to befriend this boy when he doesn't seem to be giving you any signs that he's a remotely decent person."

Harry may have agreed with Gemma, knowing there was no sense in arguing over it, but he wasn't planning on actually taking the advice to heart. Something told him to keep trying with Louis. In fact, Harry thought it might be time to make another visit to Tintagel Castle.

XX

The drive to school had never taken longer than it did the day after Harry had told Liam that he would make him ask out Danielle. Liam seemed determined to get to school without time left for such a thing to occur. It was quite a turn-around from the boy's usual earliness that he'd been pushing on Harry for the past month. Nothing Harry said could persuade him to drive more than exactly the speed limit, and to top things off, Liam seemed determined to pretend like their conversation yesterday had never happened.

For the first time at his new school, Harry had no time to dawdle around before classes. Leaving Liam with a glare, he rushed to his registration class, just barely making it in time.

Harry spent the rest of the day trying to find Liam, but his friend was obviously avoiding him on purpose. Not once did Harry see the boy. When lunchtime came, Harry seized his chance. Even if Liam had been cowardly enough to avoid the cafeteria, Harry wasn't against the idea of searching the whole school for him. For some reason Harry had become more and more determined to get Liam a date with Danielle as the day wore on and it became harder to find his friend.

Luckily, the lure of food seemed to be effective enough to finally draw Liam into contact with Harry. He was already sitting with the group Harry had begun to refer to in his mind as "The Arseholes." Instead of heading for the line as usual, Harry waved goodbye to his friends, who had been informed of the situation earlier in the day, and made his way over to the table. Liam's friends didn't seem pleased to see Harry, but they showed no open hostility. Harry didn't think they even realized how fake and sinister their smiles seemed.

Liam didn't look up at him, although Harry knew that the other boy was aware of his presence.

"Hey, Harry," Ross said with just a hint of unfriendliness. "What can we do for you?"

Harry offered as geniune of a smile as he could muster. "I was just wondering if I could talk to Liam for a bit."

The Arseholes exhanged looks of curiosity and interest with each other, but none of them bothered to ask Harry what was going on. Liam clearly hadn't shared anything with the group. It took a few moments of silence for Liam to finally look up at Harry. Harry took in the look of fear on his friend's face and almost felt bad about what he was about to do.

Liam looked dejectedly at his tray and muttered, "But what about lunch?"

"Bring it with you," Harry responded.

Liam seemed a bit confused as to why he was taking his food with him to ask a girl out, but he stood and began to gather his things without question. Harry used Liam's pokiness as an opportunity to scan the cafeteria for signs of Danielle. Harry had only seen her for a few seconds the other day, but he was able to form a picture of what he believed she had looked like.

Harry didn't plan on forcing Liam to ask her out with a crowd, but Harry figured if he found her now, it would be easier to track her down later when everyone began leaving for the next period. Harry discovered her at a table a few down from Liam and his friends. Much to his amusement, Harry realized that Liam must have purposefully positioned himself so that she was in view from where he sat.

Harry glanced over to see Liam hesitating, unsure of what to do now that all of his things were gathered.

"Done? Let's go," Harry didn't give the boy a chance to respond as he began ushering him up from the table.

"Where are we going?" Liam asked as Harry pulled him towards Niall and Zayn instead of Danielle. When Harry didn't respond, Liam leaned closer to whisper, "She's over there." He briefly nudged his head in the direction of Danielle and her friends.

"I know," was Harry's only response. Upon reaching the table he always sat at with his friends, Harry was thankful to see that Zayn had grabbed a bit of extra food, which he kindly offered Harry as he sat down.

"What are we doing?" Liam questioned again.

"Eating," Harry replied. "You're going to ask Danielle out after lunch, but I wanted to make sure you didn't bolt on me before I could get to you."

Liam's shoulders slumped in defeat as if that had been exactly what he'd planned on doing. Niall offered Liam a reassuring smile and squeezed his shoulder.

"Don't worry, mate," Niall spoke cheerfully. "If she turns you down then she's absolutely mental." He shoveled some food in his mouth before adding, "Good choice by the way. Danielle Peazer has to be one of the fittest girls in school."

Niall's words caused Liam to blush even deeper. Harry wasn't sure if it was because Niall had spoken so frankly about the situation or if the title "fittest girl in school" had made Liam doubt his chances even more.

"She'll say yes," Zayn said. He'd been watching Liam closely, and he worried the boy may hurl if someone didn't calm his nerves. Liam's eyebrows had shot up in skepticism at Zayn's words. He was unsure if the boy meant them or was just trying to calm him down.

"What makes you say that?" Liam questioned. Harry and Niall also looked up in curiosity over just why Zayn was confident in Danielle's answer.

Zayn shrugged and seemed to treat the answer as though it should have been obvious. "The entire school knows who you are, Liam. You're a nice guy and have a lot of friends. I know Danielle well enough to know that she'll be all for that. She had a bad relationship once, and now she's a bit distrustful of guys. You're probably the only guy in school who she could be confident isn't going to hurt her. Everyone knows you couldn't hurt a fly. She'll say yes."

The other boys stared at Zayn in slight shock. "Just how well do you know Danielle?" Liam asked.

"I've just had her in a class or two over the years," he replied nonchalantly. "You can learn a lot about people if you pay attention. Most people aren't as discrete as they think."

The other four boys looked at Zayn in a bit of shock. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about the idea of Zayn eaves-dropping in all of his classes. Just how much did he know about their classmates?

"Okay," Niall broke the silence. "Glad to know you're up on the latest gossip, mate." He smiled at Zayn before continuing. "He's probably right though. Everyone knows how badly things went between Danielle and Caleb White." Liam and Zayn both nodded their heads, and Harry didn't bother pointing out that he didn't even have a clue who Caleb White was. It was probably typical teen relationship problems anyway, and he had no interest in having those explained to him.

The conversation turned to different things, but Harry made sure to keep an eye on Danielle every so often as he ate. He didn't want her to leave before the bell and be impossible to find in the crowd of students milling out of the cafeteria.

When they only had a few minutes of lunch left, Harry ushered Liam away from the table. He wanted to be near the door, so Liam could confront Danielle without chasing after her. There was less potential for humiliation this way.

Liam was taking deep breaths to keep himself calm, but Harry was glad to see that he wasn't too visibly nervous.

"You okay?" Harry asked his friend as they lingered by the doorway. Harry had leaned on the wall, trying to look casual and as if he stood by the doorway every day.

"Honestly, I think so," Liam sounded slightly surprised. "What Niall and Zayn said really did make me feel better. Besides, I can't live in fear, can I?"

Harry smirked, "Right."

The bell rang just then, and students began their reluctant return to class. Liam's eyes locked on Danielle, and Harry realized that Liam had been keeping just as close an eye on her as Harry had. Harry knew that his job was done. He'd given Liam the opportunity, and now Liam was ready to do the rest for himself. Harry stayed in his place by the door as Liam shoved off the wall and began making his way to Danielle, who was talking with two of her friends as she made her way towards the exit.

It didn't take long for Niall and Zayn to appear at Harry's side, and the three boys watched as Liam asked to speak to Danielle alone. She looked a little startled but agreed none-the-less.

The boys watched the entire conversation, sometimes having to adjust their postition to see through the crowd of students wandering between them. Despite his earlier nervousness, Liam seemed to handle himself well. Each of the boys let out a sigh of relief when they saw smiles form on both Liam and Danielle's faces. Soon, Liam was heading towards them looking as if he had won the lottery.

"She said yes," he informed them in a shocked voice. "We're going out tomorrow." The other boys offered their congratulations as they began heading towards their classes. "Oh, God," Liam exclaimed right before departing ways from the other boys. "Now what do I do for the date?"

Later on that same day, as Harry sat in his room attempting to get some studying done, he couldn't help but feel pretty good about himself. Harry had never seen Liam as happy as he was on the car ride home. Harry, Niall, and Zayn had helped him decide where to take Danielle the next day. Now that she had agreed, Liam's nervousness had seemed to vanish completely. The boy seemed quite confident in himself now. It made Harry feel good to know that he had helped make his friend that happy.

The only exception to Harry's happiness was that it had been two weeks since he'd so much as glimpsed Louis. Harry had replayed their first conversation in his mind so many times over the past month that he could probably recite it on cue. He couldn't understand why the older boy seemed so reluctant to speak to him now.

Something about Liam's success with Danielle gave Harry a renewed vigor to get Louis to speak to him. Before Harry was even sure what he was doing, he'd grabbed his jacket and was on his way out the door and walking towards Tintagel Castle.

Harry had no idea if Louis was working. Hell, he had no idea what he'd say to the boy if he was working. But something was propeling Harry towards the castle, and he didn't seem to be slowing down even as his mind worked on overload to try and figure out a plan before reaching the ruins.

Upon reaching the castle, Harry hurriedly laid down six pounds, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for his change. He briefly thought that he might as well pay for a membership if he kept coming back, but there was no time to worry about that now.

Harry quickly separated from the few tourists present at this time of year. Currently uninterested in the castle ruins surrounding him, Harry headed straight for the gift shop, still unsure of what he would say if Louis even happened to be there.

Sure enough the older boy was chatting amiably with one of his coworkers when Harry entered the shop. Harry hesitated briefly, unsure of whether it was wise to approach the boy so abruptly. He hadn't had time to decide on his next move when Louis suddenly looked up to see who had entered the shop. The boy's smile dropped instantly, and Harry noticed that he began to fiddle with his shirt nervously.

Louis' coworker wandered off almost as if he sensed that it was better for him not to be there. Louis tried to appear busy, but Harry could tell that the other boy was just waiting to be approached. Louis's movements became stiffer as Harry walked towards him. The older boy refused to look up from the papers on the counter, but Harry could tell that Louis sensed his proximity.

"Can I help you?" Louis asked in a professional manner as he finally glanced up to look at Harry. Harry could hear a quiver in his voice that he was desperately trying to hide.

"Yeah," Harry tried to sound confident. "I was wondering why you seem so reluctant to talk to me."

Louis, who hadn't been expecting Harry to be so forward, seemed unable to formulate an articulate answer. Harry felt quite satisfied as the other boy's mouth worked incessantly to form words that wouldn't come.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Louis finally choked out.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Are you really going to try and pretend? We both know you've been avoiding me. There's no use denying it."

Louis sighed in defeat but didn't offer up an explanation for his actions. Instead, he just watched Harry as if waiting for the other boy to continue talking.

"Look," Harry continued after a moment of silence. "How about we hang out on Saturday?"

Louis' breath caught, but he managed to nod his head. "Uh... Sure. I can ask off, I suppose." The older boy seemed awkward and nervous about the prospect of spending a day with the other boy. Harry would have been offended if he hadn't had this feeling that it wasn't him personally that was causing Louis' discomfort. There was something else going on here, and Harry was going to figure it out.

"Great," Harry grinned. "How about you give me your number so I can call you about the details later?"

Louis fumbled with the paper, having to scribble out the number three times before getting it right. Harry took it happily and headed home with a new bounce in his step. Neither boy had any idea that the other's thoughts would be occupied by nothing but each other and their Saturday plans for the next two days.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been almost two weeks since I updated, and I'm really sorry about that, especially since I already have it written. It's just that I'm getting paid to write now, and it's been taking up a ton of time. It shouldn't take this long next time though.
> 
> And I'm seeing the boys in concert on Sunday! I'm unbelievably excited!
> 
> The first half of this chapter is entirely Liam's date with Danielle, so if Payzer's not your thing, then skip past the XX that divides the chapter.

It wasn't as if Liam had no experience with girls. He'd dated his share over the years, but none of them had ever made him feel like this. Liam considered himself a fairly likeable person. He tried to be kind to everyone, and he knew that this tended to make people like him. He'd always be pretty confident that even if a date didn't go well, he could still end things on friendly terms. With Danielle things felt different. Liam had never been this desperate for a date to go well, and it was interfering with his ability to function. He'd spent the entire school day zoning out and being scolded by the teachers. His friends were frustrated with him, and he'd narrowly avoided running into countless people in the halls between classes.

After coming home, he'd turned on his computer and begun to anxiously surf the web, unable to focus on anything and constantly switching sites. He'd been Facebook stalking Danielle for the millionth time that afternoon (What if she posted something about the date?) when the doorbell rang. Liam knew instantly that it was Harry, Niall, and Zayn who had promised to make an appearance before the date, feeling as if he needed some support after seeing his nerves earlier in the day. Sure enough, a glance at the clock on his way to the door informed him that it was a mere hour before he'd be leaving to pick up Danielle.

"Hey," Zayn immediately greeted Liam with a hand on his shoulder. The three boys quickly pushed their way through the doorway, not bothering to wait for an invitation to come inside.

Harry, the only one of the boys to have ever entered Liam's house before, began leading the other boys to Liam's room, with Liam trailing along behind.

"How are you doing?" the curly-haired boy asked as he perched himself on Liam's bed.

"Fine, I guess." Liam tried to sound sure of himself. The other three boys seemed to be watching him for any signs of nervousness.

"It'll go great," Niall assured him, apparently unconvinced that Liam was as confident as he was trying to appear.

"Of course it will," Liam nodded half-heartedly.

Zayn had ambled over to the open wardrobe and began rummaging through Liam's clothes. "What are you wearing?" he asked.

Liam came up behind his friend to look into the wardrobe. "We're going bowling so nothing too fancy."

Zayn nodded in agreement.

"What about this?" Liam pulled out a nice looking pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

"Good," Zayn agreed. "However," he turned back to the wardrobe and grabbed a jumper. "Wear this as well. It's cold enough outside to be acceptable, and when you get too warm in the bowling alley, Danielle will get the pleasure of watching you take it off."

Liam blushed, but Harry and Niall made noises of approval, forcing Liam to accept the jumper from Zayn. Liam could already picture himself sweating through the thing after being too self-conscious to take it off in front of Danielle. Maybe he could take it off on his way to pick her up, after he got away from the boys.

After Liam had changed into the friend-approved outfit, the boys pulled him into the sitting room where they proceeded to goof off and successfully keep his mind off of the date until it was time for Liam to head to Danielle's house.

Liam could never remember being nervous about visiting someone's house, but he had a difficult time remaining calm as he rang Danielle's doorbell. It hadn't occured to him until the drive over that her parents might be home, and they could quite possibly be the ones to answer the door. This didn't help his nerves any.

Liam almost let out an audible sigh of relief when the door opened to reveal none other than Danielle herself.

"Hey," Danielle greeted him happily as she stepped outside and quickly shut the door behind her. "I'd invite you in, but my parents are gone and my sister has her boyfriend over. We don't want to disturb them, believe me."

The allusion wouldn't have normally bothered Liam a bit, but with his current nerves, Liam knew that a blush was covering his checks. Thank God it was dark out.

"That's fine," Liam replied as he led her to the car. He made sure to open her door for her, and his blush only stregthened when she smiled sweetly at him.

Liam took a deep breath as he opened his own door and braced himself for being alone in the car with Danielle. Liam had been worrying about this part the whole way over. At least at the bowling alley they could always talk about the game if conversation topics ran out. There was no such luck inside the dark car as they drove through the unbusy town. All conversation would have to be based around things they came up with themselves, and Liam had been trying his hardest to think of things to mention.

"I've heard you're an amazing dancer." It was common knowledge that Danielle's dream was to become a professional dancer, so Liam figured that was the best place to start.

Danielle beamed at him. "I'm decent, I guess," she chuckled. "I wouldn't go so far as 'amazing.' I do hope to be a professional some day though."

"I'm sure you'll make it," Liam smiled.

"You've never even seen me dance," Danielle laughed.

"Then we'll have to change that some time," Liam answered brightly.

The date continued to go very well. Liam's nervousness had all but disappeared by the time they reached the bowling alley. He found it easy to talk to Danielle, and they never seemed to struggle for a topic to discuss. They were learning a lot about each other, and Liam found himself falling harder and harder for Danielle as the night went on.

They were just gathering up their things and changing out of their bowling shoes when Danielle brought up something that hadn't been mentioned all night.

"I'm really glad I said yes," she smiled at Liam, whose heart swelled. "You know, Leah didn't think I should come." She quickly continued after seeing Liam's shocked expression. "Not because of you," she assured him. "It's your friends." She seemed hesitant. "Everyone at school knows you're a great guy, but Leah's convinced that I shouldn't get close to you because it means I'll have to be around your friends too." She seemed reluctant to be sharing this information but continued anyway. "Leah used to be friends with your friend Jackie, so I guess Leah is a bit touchy when it comes to the subject. You're friends don't really have the best reputation though. Everyone thinks of them as bullies and jerks. Leah didn't think I should date someone so close to them."

Danielle seemed really embarassed, but it didn't seem to stop her from sharing farther. "I get a bit self-conscious at times, and Leah gets protective. She's just scared of what they'll say to me if we start dating." It was silent a moment before Danielle burst, "But I don't care! I mean, I don't like your friends either, but I really like you, Liam."

"Wow," Liam breathed after taking everything in for a few moments. Danielle was fidgeting across from him as if worried she'd said too much. "That's a lot to take in. It's okay though," he assured Danielle. Liam looked at the ground. "I know my friends aren't the nicest sometimes. I've been friends with them for so long that I guess I just force myself not to see it most of the time. I want to see the best in them. They really do have the potential to be good people. They just don't choose to be most of the time."

Liam got up from his spot opposite Danielle and moved to sit beside her instead. He hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and inwardly cheered when she seemed to scoot closer to him. "I won't let them say anything about you though. I promise."

Danielle smiled. "I've seen you hanging out with the new kid, Harry, a lot, and Zayn Malik and Niall Horan. They're good kids. You should stick with them. They seem to care about you. Niall came up to me the other day." Liam stiffened, unsure of just what the younger boy could have said to Danielle. Danielle must have sensed his fear because she chuckled and added, "He just wanted to sing your praises. He told me how great of a guy you were and made sure I was looking forward to our date. He's a great kid. A lot better than your other friends."

"Yeah," Liam grinned. "Niall couldn't hurt a fly unless it was by complete accident."

Danielle chuckled. "I may be biased, since all three boys have been nothing but kind to me, but if I were you, I'd be re-evaluating just who your best friends are." She said it in a joking tone, but Liam could tell she was dead serious. "Besides," she smirked. "If you were to ask a certain girl to be your girlfriend, and she were to say yes, she'd probably like it if she could hang out with you and your friends without worrying about being insulted."

Liam's heart raced. "Danielle?" he hesitated only briefly before asking. "Would you please be my girlfriend."

Danielle smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I'd love to," she responded before grabbing his hand to lead him over to the shoe return desk.

XX

Harry had just gotten up and ready for the day when he heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

"Harry, Liam's here!" Anne called up the stairs a minute later.

Harry hurried through the rest of his usual morning routine in order to get downstairs as quickly as possible. He was eager to hear how things had gone with Danielle. Harry made his way down the stairs to find his mother cooking breakfast as Liam sat at the table. They were chatting amicably when Harry entered.

"You look cheerful this morning. I take it the date went well," Harry said as he took a seat across the table from Liam.

Liam smiled even brighter, which Harry hadn't thought was possible at the moment. "I officially have a girlfriend."

"That's great, mate!" Harry congratulated his friend. "I told you everything would work out."

"Thanks for that, by the way," Liam turned slightly serious. "I probably wouldn't be dating her if it weren't for you."

"No problem. I'm just glad you're happy," Harry spoke honestly.

"Well," Liam spoke with a slightly unsure quiver to his voice. "You did something none of my other friends would have ever done, so thank you."

Harry frowned for a moment at Liam's words, but he decided not to comment. Instead, he sent a quick smile to the other boy as Anne sat a plate of food on the table in front of him.

"Are you sure you don't want anything, Liam? There's plenty," Anne questioned as she turned back towards the counter and began clearing things off of it.

"No. I'm good, Anne. I ate right before coming over. Thanks though."

Liam turned his attention to Harry, who'd begun eating his toast. "Danielle invited me to hang out with her and her friends today. She said I could invite a few people as well. Niall and Zayn are coming. You up for it?"

"Sorry, mate," Harry told him only slightly regretfully. "I have plans."

Harry really did wish he could hang out with his friends and see how is plan with Liam had worked out, but he couldn't bring himself to cancel on Louis. He'd waited too long for this opportunity to actually get to know the older boy.

"That's fine. I'm sure we'll have a better time without you," Liam joked. Harry made sure to send him a quick kick under the table before laughing as well.

Liam had to leave a few minutes later in order to meet Danielle and the rest of the group. After finishing up his breakfast, Harry found himself back in his room with an hour to spare before he had planned to meet Louis. For the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours, Harry found himself staring at the text messages on his phone.

Louis' messages had been brief and to the point, but Harry still felt himself being compelled to read them time and time again. The boys had decided to meet at Tintagel Castle of all places. There wasn't much in Tintagel, and unless there was some popular hangout that newcomer Harry didn't know about, there were very few places to hang out with friends that weren't your own home. Louis, for his part, had agreed immediately and had not voiced another option when Harry had asked him if he had any ideas.

Unable to occupy himself, Harry headed off towards the ruins earlier than planned. He was surprised to come across Louis waiting for him near the parking lot where visitors were forced to abandon their cars and continue on foot.

"Hey, Louis," Harry beamed at the boy he'd been dying to see.

"Hi, Harry," Louis smiled hesitantly up at him. Harry could see that Louis was visibly nervous, which puzzled him. Harry knew that he was a bit apprehensive around the older boy, but Louis seemed to be slightly frightened. Harry didn't peg him as a shy individual, so it had to be something about Harry that caused Louis to act like this. The thought set Harry's teeth on edge a bit. As far as he knew, he hadn't done anything towards the boy that should have been off-putting. It left Harry wondering if his efforts were even worth it, but as he reminded himself, Louis had agreed to meet him. That had to mean something.

The two boys began to amble down Castle Road. As it was an odd time of the day, they saw no tourists during the five minutes it took to reach the ruins. They were both silent, but to Harry's surprise it wasn't all that awkward. He found himself enjoying the view, even though they had yet to reach the castle, and he snuck a few glances at Louis as they walked along.

It was the first time Harry had seen the older boy out of his work uniform, and Harry took a moment to appreciate how attractive Louis looked. It was that moment, just before they reached the ruins, that Harry flat out admitted to himself that he was infatuated with this boy he barely knew. Harry had never been so attracted to someone in his life. It had taken him years to figure out why he wasn't attracted to girls the way he was "supposed" to be, but even after finally admitting to himself that he might be gay, he'd never seen someone as gorgeous as Louis. It was as if this was the final nail in the coffin. Harry was gay. He was gay and quite possibly falling in love with a boy he'd barely spoken to.

This new revelation startled Harry a bit, but at the same time, it had been a long time coming. However, the fact still remained that Harry knew very little about Louis. Today could make or break a lot of things.

"So," Harry began somewhat awkwardly. Louis seemed unlikely to begin a conversation, so Harry knew it was up to him. "I know almost nothing about you," Harry stated.

Louis snorted as if it were a joke but didn't say anything.

"You know," Harry continued. "We could possibly be friends if you'd give me a chance."

Louis' face fell as he began leading the younger boy in the direction of the beach.

"Isn't this giving you a chance?" Louis barely glanced back at Harry as he continued walking, leaving Harry to trail behind. "I didn't realize that you thought I was coming off as cold. Why do you even care that much?" They'd just reached the sand, and Louis twirled around to face Harry.

Harry was momentarily overwhelmed at the sudden question, but he quickly recovered and shrugged. "I'm just trying to make friends here, and you seemed to want nothing to do with me for some reason. It didn't really seem like you were willing to be friends."

This statement caused Louis to really look sorry as he offered Harry a sheepish smile. "It wasn't you," he said. "It's just- well, it's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you later. I promise it wasn't because I had something against you and didn't want to be friends though." The older boy glanced towards the water nine meters away.

"Come on," Louis urged as he began removing his Toms. "Let's go wading."

Harry didn't have time to react before Louis was up to his ankles in the water. He paid no mind to Harry who was staring at him in shock.

"Louis! It's October!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.

Louis threw his head back in laughter, obviously amused by Harry's reluctantness to get in the water. "It's about 15 degrees, Harry. That's not too cold for wading."

"But-" Harry stuttered. "The water's probably freezing."

Louis shrugged and glanced down towards his feet. "It's not that bad actually."

And before he knew it, Harry was removing his shoes. Harry knew he was probably doing something very stupid just to get closer to Louis, but he pushed that thought out of his mind as he entered the chilly water.

Five minutes later and Harry was being pushed into the water entirely, and he couldn't find it in him to be angry that he was now soaked and without a chance of clothes. Harry launched himself at Louis, eager to get revenge. Suddenly, Harry realized he had the other boy pinned down at the very edge of the beach, with several centimeters of water ebbing and flowing around them as they lay there. Harry had never seen Louis' eyes so close up before, and he found himself mesmerized before a somewhat large wave tumbled over them both. The two boys quickly jumped to their feet. Harry and Louis locked eyes for a second sharing their slight shock before they burst into laughter simultaneously.

"Come on," Louis reached for Harry's wrist and began dragging him back up the beach. "Let's go lay out and see if our clothes will dry."

Harry followed behind Louis while shivering from the slight breeze. Harry couldn't bring himself to care about his current cold, wet state as he studied the older boy from behind. The warmth inside of him was more than enough to make up for it.


	4. Chapter 4

A week later Harry found himself at the castle ruins yet again. This time he made the walk there alone and headed straight towards the gift shop where Louis was currently ending his shift. The older boy's face lit up when Harry entered the shop, and Harry laughed as Louis quickly hurried out, pulling Harry with him.

"Thank God," Louis said as soon as they were out in the fresh air. "If I had to listen to Samantha go on about how she needs a date for her sister's wedding for much longer, I would have lost it. I think she expects me to ask her, which is most definitely not going to happen."

Harry laughed, feeling slightly giddy now that he was with Louis. It seemed to be mutual, as Louis appeared much happier than he had for the second or two Harry had observed him in the gift shop before his presence was detected.

It didn't take Harry long to realize that Louis was leading him to the view point, the place where visitors could look out at the ruins and the ocean. They found a few visitors there once they reached it. There was a young couple going the way Louis and Harry had just come who were happily engaged in conversation. They smiled brightly at the two boys as they passed them on the path. This left only a middle-aged woman looking out at the sea. She smiled kindly at the boys as they sprawled out across the grass. The boys took in the view for a few moments before the woman ambled away as well, leaving Louis and Harry virtually alone.

"So, what's new with you this week?" Louis asked.

Harry shrugged, "I guess I've gotten used to living in Tintagel. Nothing seems to happen anymore. I go to school, and it's the same as always. I hang out with Niall, Zayn, and Liam after school, and we do the same things we always do. I text you, even though I didn't get to see you at all this week." He shot a pointed look at the older boy. "Nothing new."

Louis chuckled as he laid on his back in the grass. "Now you're starting to sound like every Tintagel citizen. Some people may think that living in a tourist destination would be exciting, but take it from someone who deals with them every day, tourists are all the same. Maybe once in a blue moon something remotely exciting will happen, like a film crew for some boring documentary or something." Louis paused a moment as he stared up at the sky. "I can't wait to get out of this place."

Harry tried to cover his mild surprise. He'd had no idea that Louis looked down on his hometown so strongly.

"Why?" Harry asked, unable to hide his curiosity. "I mean, it's not very exciting, but I like it here good enough, I guess. It's not as if Holmes Chapel was anymore exciting."

Louis turned to look at Harry. "That's not really the problem." Louis' voice had gotten low, as if saying this made him a bit nervous. "I don't like the judgement in these small towns. Everyone knows everyone, and everyone thinks they have a right to know every aspect of your life. And you better believe that they're judging you for it."

He turned back towards the sky, as if unable to hold Harry's eyes.

"In places like London or Manchester you don't have to worry about that. You can just get lost in the crowd. People don't care about the inner-workings of your life, and if they're judgemental arseholes, you can avoid them perfectly fine."

Harry looked at Louis with a bit of confusion. "That's all true," he said. "But don't you think it's kind of nice being connected to people like you are in a village?"

"No," Louis stated simply. "Not when you have no choice but to know everyone. I'd rather choose my friends, so I know they're good people. I don't want to have to pretend to get along with everyone just because I have to see them all the time."

"I can understand that," Harry stated, although he was still a bit bewildered about how passionate Louis seemed to be about this.

"What about you?" Louis asked suddenly. "Where do you want to end up?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I hadn't given it much thought. I really don't have a clue." He plucked a blade of grass from the ground and began tearing it apart. "I plan on going to university, but I haven't even given any thought to where I'd be going. Thinking about where I'd move after university... I just have no idea."

Louis smiled at him somewhat sadly. "That's how I felt when I was at Wadebridge too. Then at the end all of these decisions started being thrust on me, and I didn't know what to do. It hadn't seemed important before that. That's how I ended up working here." He motioned around the ruins. "I'm taking a year off to actually plan for uni. If everything goes well I'll be moving to London in September."

Harry tried to hide his disappointment that was, by usual standards, unexplainable. He could count the number of times he'd spent with Louis on one hand. Harry shouldn't have felt like a huge piece of him would be missing if Louis moved away to attend university.

"That's great." Harry stumbled over the words in a voice that implied he didn't find it great at all.

Louis smiled slightly. "Just make sure you make plans now so that you don't end up living at home and working an extra year," he chuckled. "Now kids like you will only be a year behind me in uni."

Harry laughed as well and gave Louis a soft push, causing his stomach to flutter as he touched the other boy. "And just for that comment," Harry joked. "I'm going to have to register at your uni and spend the year after next stalking your every move."

"You say that as if I would hate it," Louis smiled. Harry abruptly stopped laughing and looked up at Louis in shock and fascination. "What?" Louis laughed even harder. "I like hanging out with you so far, Harry. I wouldn't object to being friends with you at uni."

"Right." Harry tried to laugh, but inwardly he was running over the word "friends" in his head. Nothing about Louis' comment had suggested more than that, and Harry shouldn't have been running over the words in his head to try and make it into more than it was.

"Have you given uni any thought?" Louis questioned.

Harry nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm studying several different things at the moment, like law and English and stuff. I'm not sure which one I want to study in uni."

"Why not law?" Louis chuckled. "I'd love to see you as a lawyer."

"Yeah," Harry smirked. "I could totally see myself as a lawyer. What about you? What are you going to be studying?"

Louis smiled happily. "I want to become a drama teacher!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Harry laughed. Even in the short time he'd known the boy, Harry could tell that Louis would be perfect for that job.

"Well, Mr. Sarcastic," Louis feigned offence. "What are you planning to do with that business degree?"

"No idea," Harry shrugged.

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Louis shook his head, holding back a laugh. "What did I tell you just moments ago about planning?"

"That I shouldn't bother and just wait until I absolutely have to make a decision?"

Louis took the opportunity to tackle the other boy to the ground.

XX

The Halloween sleepover had been Niall's idea, but somehow they had ended up at Harry's house. Niall was apparently quite fond of the holiday because of the opportunity to get large amounts of candy for free, and he was quite adamant that Harry, Zayn, and Liam go trick-or-treating with him. Zayn and Liam had been rather reluctant, claiming they were much too old for the tradition, but Niall had eventually worn them down. Harry, on the other hand, had been up for it from the beginning. And somehow they had been able to convince their parents to allow the sleepover even though it was a school night. Harry figured Liam had been responsible for that. Their parents had quickly accepted Liam's promise to make sure the other three boys made it to school on time the following day.

Harry had spent two Saturdays with Louis since the time that they had had the conversation about university, and the more Harry learned about the boy, the deeper his feelings grew. Louis gave no indication about whether or not he felt the same way, but Harry wasn't going to give up until he had learned for sure. He had wondered if he should invite the older boy along for their Halloween sleepover, but he hadn't been sure how it would go over with his other three friends. Harry didn't want to bring a random boy to a sleepover that was just him and the boys.

Liam had begun spending all of his free time with either them or Danielle, and it was as if the four boys had been best friends their entire lives. They had been disappointed when Harry had turned down spending time with them for the third Saturday in a row though, and Harry felt as if he should introduce them to Louis soon. Maybe they would all hit it off. Harry liked to think Louis could be a perfect fifth member to their group, even though he was older and no longer dealing with the pains of sixth-form, and if they had the excuse of the other three being there as well, Harry could spend more time with Louis without it being weird. Harry just had to figure out how to introduce Louis into the group.

"I can't believe you're making me carry around this hook thing." Zayn's grumblings pulled Harry out of his thoughts.

"You can't be a pirate without a hook for a hand!" Niall exclaimed. The blonde boy was so excited about trick-or-treating that he'd taken it upon himself to pick out the other three boys' costumes. Harry and Liam had accepted Niall's suggestions without complaint, but Zayn was proving more difficult. It had taken Niall an hour to get Zayn to cover his hair with a bandana.

"Mate, you have less makeup than Harry and I do," Liam reminded him from where he was busy applying the brown face paint for his werewolf costume in front of the mirror. Harry stood beside him applying what he hoped looked like a decent zombie face. "The least you can do is carry a hook around."

"Of course Niall's excited about this," Zayn grumbled so lowly that they could hardly hear. "He's just wearing a stupid mask."

Niall laughed as he picked up his Barack Obama mask and put it on. "My suit's probably more uncomfortable than any of your costumes though," he commented as he tugged at his tie.

"I disagree," Liam spoke up. "This fake fur itches."

"So, if we're all uncomfortable in our costumes can we just forget about this?" Zayn asked in a hopeful voice.

"Are you kidding!?" Niall almost sounded offended. "Candy, Zayn! Free candy! You can deal with the costume for a couple of hours."

"Couple of hours!?" Zayn sounded slightly horrified. "How many houses are we going to?"

Niall just shrugged, not giving a definite answer, causing Zayn's shoulders to slump in defeat.

"Why couldn't we at least be going to a party like normal people our age," he muttered to himself.

"What party?" Liam snorted. "You're in Tintagel now, mate. If we'd wanted to go to a party, we'd have gone to your or Niall's house in Wadebridge and found one there."

"You do realize that we could still get to Wadebridge, right?" Zayn's question had been directed at Liam, but it was Niall who answered.

"Candy, Zayn," the enthusiastic boy piped up yet again.

Liam smiled at Niall, who was continuing to bustle excitedly around the room. "You have to admit that his excitement is infectious," he said to Zayn.

Zayn cracked a smile as well. "How else would I have managed to stay friends with such an annoying twat for so many years?" Unfortunately, Niall heard his words and lightly swatted the back of Zayn's head. Zayn's hands flew up to fix his hair before realizing that it was still covered with the bandana. Harry covered his giggle as Zayn began grumbling again after being reminded of his dilemma.

"Are we ready, lads?" Harry questioned as he put the finishing touches on his zombie make up. He had to admit that he was quite impressed with himself. He'd done a pretty decent job for not having a clue how to make oneself look like a zombie.

"Yes!" Niall yelled as he took off towards the door. "Candy!"

Zayn sighed as the other three boys followed the blonde at a slower pace. "It's like we're babysitting a five-year-old."

The four boys walked around Tintagel for the next half an hour. Most of the residents seemed to find nothing wrong with boys their age trick-or-treating, but they did receive a few odd looks here and there.

Eventually they came across a house that made Liam's eyes light up in recognition. "Louis!" the boy exclaimed loudly. The name caused Harry's stomach to lurch, but it took him a second to fully process what Liam had said.

"Wait," Harry stopped walking suddenly to stare at the older boy. "Louis as in Louis Tomlinson? Is that his house?"

Liam smiled brightly. "You've met him then?"

"You know him?" Harry asked instead of answering the question.

"Sure," Liam shrugged. "Everyone knows Louis." Zayn nodded from his spot beside Liam, but Niall looked slightly confused.

"I don't know Louis," he spoke.

"Oh," Liam thought for a moment. "I supposed you wouldn't, Niall, since you went to primary school in Wadebridge and Louis had graduated before you started sixth-form. But you remember him right, Zayn?"

Zayn nodded. "Yeah, he's a fun bloke. We were both in drama together, so we talked quite a bit." Harry had known that both Louis and Zayn had taken drama, but he'd never put it together and realized that meant they had probably been in the same classes at school.

"And Louis and I have been friends since primary school," Liam told Harry. "He's graduated now of course, so I don't see him incredibly often. We still talk regularly and all that though."

"Well," Niall impatiently edged closer to the house. "Let's go then, so I can meet this guy and get some candy."

Liam and Zayn chuckled as they followed behind the blonde. Harry hung back a bit. For some reason knowing this was Louis' house made him a bit nervous. He hadn't been expecting to see the other boy tonight, and finding out that Liam and Zayn were actually friends with him, while great, had shocked him a bit. Harry felt as if he should have known. He got the impression that Louis was friends with just about everyone around here.

Sure enough it was Louis who opened the door with a large grin on his face. It took Harry a few moments to realize that Louis' costume was supposed to be Peter Pan.

"I saw you coming from the window and grabbed the candy before Mum could," Louis chuckled. Harry was still lingering a bit behind the other boys, and he tensed as Louis' eyes found him.

"It's good to see you two," Louis said to Liam and Zayn. "And you must be Niall." Louis offered his hand to the blonde. "Harry's mentioned you."

The other three boys turned towards Harry in slight shock. Harry had forgotten that he'd mentioned his friends to Louis before, and the bastard hadn't said anything about being friends with Zayn and Liam...

"Uh, yeah," Harry began slightly awkwardly. "Louis and I have been hanging out. I never thought to mention it." It was the mostly the truth, but Harry knew how lame it sounded even as he said it. "Didn't know you guys knew each other." Harry shot a pointed look at Louis.

The older boy laughed. "I never thought to mention it," he mocked. Harry couldn't help the smile that found its way to his face. "So," Louis continued. "Aren't you four a little old to be trick-or-treating?"

"Says the guy handing out candy in a Peter Pan costume," Zayn rolled his eyes. Louis snorted but said nothing.

"Come with us, mate," Liam offered.

Louis shrugged. "Why not? I'll just go tell Mum where I'm going and grab a bag to collect candy in."

Harry found himself getting nervous even though he'd been hanging out with Louis for two weeks already. He wondered if it had more to do with the tights that were a part of Louis' costume or the fact that it was the first time he'd be hanging out with Louis along with his other friends.

"Let's go, lads!" Louis exclaimed as he came hurrying out the door. He seemed to have replaced Niall as the most excited one of the group.

Louis fit in easily as they ambled down the streets of Tintagel. He quickly caught up with Liam and Zayn, and Niall seemed to instantly like the older boy. Harry couldn't help but think that the five boys were meant to be a group like this. Niall made friends easier than anyone Harry had ever met, but his instant friendship with Louis was unlike anything Harry had ever seen. Before long they weren't even trick-or-treating anymore and were instead just wandering around Tintagel talking and laughing up a storm. Harry wondered how he and the other three boys had even been able to function as a group without Louis. It was an unexplainable connection among the five of them. One that Harry hoped would only grow stronger in the future.


	5. Chapter 5

"Why do we always stay here?" Louis questioned Harry as they trudged through the ruins after the older boy's shift. It was the Sunday after Halloween, and Harry had met up with Louis at Tintagel Castle yet again. It hadn't really been necessary as he was going to see Louis later that night anyway when they joined the other three boys to celebrate Bonfire Night, but Harry had wanted to spend some time alone with the Louis, which wasn't likely later that night.

Harry hadn't said this to Louis though. Instead, he'd made the excuse that he was bored with Liam being off with Danielle somewhere and Zayn and Niall being all the way in Wadebridge. This was all true, but it didn't change the fact that it wasn't exactly why Harry had asked to spend time with Louis. Either way, Louis didn't seem to mind Harry's company.

"Where else do you suggest we go?" Harry responded, with a slight grin. He was always happy when he was with the older boy.

Louis shrugged. "I don't know. Indoors for starters. It's starting to get chilly outside. We can't keep hanging out here all winter. The ruins aren't even open most of the time, and we only have an hour until it closes today."

"We can go back to my house if you want," Harry suggested even though the idea brought butterflies to his stomach. He hadn't been anticipating Louis seeing where he lived when he'd left the house that morning.

"Sounds great!" Louis responded eagerly as a huge smile lit up his face.

The two boys began the relatively short hike back to the entrance. Luckily, they hadn't gotten too far into the ruins before changing their plans.

For the last month or so that Louis and Harry had been hanging out, they'd come to know a lot about each other, but there were still some things about Louis that puzzled Harry. Things that Harry had a very strong urge to question Louis about but was worried about how the other boy would react. One of the most pressing matters was Louis' feelings for Harry. Louis said nothing to point towards him being attracted to guys, and the only past relationships he'd mentioned to Harry had been with girls. So maybe it was just wishful thinking on Harry's part, but Harry felt that Louis had to know that Harry's feelings for him weren't all platonic. In even more wishful thinking, Harry even believed that Louis' own feelings weren't entirely platonic either, even if the older boy still needed times to come to terms with that fact.

Harry longed to find out what was the truth and what was just his imagination, but the boy couldn't think of any way to approach the topic. If Louis hadn't been so important to him, Harry would have been much more straight-forward, but the younger boy didn't want to take too big of a risk with his and Louis' newly formed friendship. Sure Harry had begun having dreams about him and Louis being together forever, but having Louis' friendship was more important to him than being without Louis forever because Harry said something wrong and ruined their friendship.

Harry felt a bit nervous as he let Louis into his room. He didn't have any hidden embarrassing items or anything, but this felt special somehow. Harry had never thought of his room as an intimate place, but it really was in a way. There were few places you could take a person to that were as personal as the room where you usually kept the majority of your belongings and spent some of your most vulnerable moments.

Louis looked around the room with a smile on his face before taking the place beside Harry on the bed. "Lots of band posters," Louis commented.

Harry smiled a bit as his nervousness dissipated. "I like music," he shrugged.

"Good music too," Louis smiled as he took notice of the different bands featured on Harry's walls.

Harry's smile brightened at the thought of him and Louis having similar music tastes. It surprised him sometimes when he realized that he and Louis had only known each other for a short while and really didn't know all that much about each other even if Harry often liked to pretend otherwise. Harry felt as if he'd known the older boy for much longer.

A sudden idea struck Harry. "Let's play truth," he announced suddenly.

Louis' brow furrowed. "Never heard of it."

"It's like truth or dare except it's just truth questions," Harry explained. "If someone declines to answer a question than they have the opportunity to ask the other person one more question. If that person answers the question truthfully, they win the game and the person who didn't answer loses."

"Sounds simple." Louis turned so that he could face Harry directly while sitting cross-legged on the bed. "Who's asking the first question?"

"I will." Harry turned so that he was also facing Louis. "Who's your best friend?"

"Stan," Louis answered immediately. "We've been friends for years. He's away at university now." It only took Louis a few seconds of contemplation before he asked, "Have you ever made out in the cinema?"

Harry blushed lightly. Trust Louis to go for such a question. "Yeah, once." He didn't bother elaborating. It wasn't all that interesting of a story anyway, and Louis didn't seem determined to press the matter. "What's your favorite flavor of crisps?" Harry figured he might as well use the game to figure out some of the more mundane facts about Louis. The things that you never thought to talk about, but could really prove how well you knew a person.

This time Louis had to think a bit about his answer. Causing Harry to think that Louis probably wasn't all that picky about crisp flavors. "Chili," he finally decided, and Harry filed it away in his mind where it would never be forgotten. "What was the last thing you did that got you grounded?" Louis asked.

"Made a rude joke in front of my mum." Harry had to suppress a smile when his answer caused Louis to laugh.

Harry decided to be a bit bolder with his next question. "When was your last relationship?"

It was the first time Louis had gotten nervous around Harry since their first two somewhat awkward encounters. "It was last year. We were dating for several months, but it fell apart before graduation."

All pretext of the game was forgotten. "Would it be too impolite of me to ask why you broke up?" Harry could tell that something major had happened with this person in order for Louis to have this sort of a reaction, and Harry didn't miss the fact that Louis seemed to be purposefully avoiding using a name. The break up was clearly still bothering him months later.

Louis seemed to squirm under Harry's gaze. "It's not a problem that you asked," Louis spoke softly. "I just don't really want to talk about it. Some day I'm sure I'll tell you, but would it be okay if I kept it to myself for now?"

Harry nodded, unwilling to force Louis to talk about something he wasn't comfortable with. Despite the somber subject, Harry found his stomach fluttering at Louis' assurances that he would tell Harry "some day." Any indication that Louis wanted him in his life seemed to do that.

The two boys sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments before Louis spoke, "What about you? What was your last relationship?"

"Oh," Harry hadn't been expecting the question. "I actually broke up with a girl at the end of the school year after I found out I'd be moving to Wadesbridge." He was thankful that he could be truthful about this without revealing anything about his ambiguous sexuality or his growing feelings for the boy in front of him. "We'd only been dating a few months though. I hated doing it, but she took it well all things considered." Harry shrugged as if to show that he couldn't help the circumstances behind the break up.

Louis nodded in understanding before asking suggestively, "Any girls caught your eye here in Tintagel or Wadebridge?"

Louis was smirking, but Harry couldn't help but feel as if there was a different emotion in the older boy's eyes. One that Harry wished he could interpret.

"Nope. No girls." Harry's throat almost seemed to constrict, as if it didn't want him to say the words, and Harry had to fight from adding an emphasis on the last word. "Any girls you're interested in?" Harry tried to appear as if it was just a throwaway question with no real meaning that he was just asking out of passing curiosity, but he thought the quiver of nervousness in his voice gave him away.

Louis actually snorted, as if the idea was laughable. Harry's mind immediately tried to rationalize the reaction as Louis spoke. "No, none for me either. I don't think I'll be interested in any girls for a while." Louis' voice seemed to trail off at the end, as if he hadn't actually finished what he wanted to say, and Harry was left wishing that Louis would have tacked on, "or ever."

Even though it was probably a bit suspicious (because aren't guys Harry's age supposed to be thinking about girls all the time?), Harry responded, "Yeah, me either."

Sure enough Harry's words caused Louis' eyes to widen. He didn't question Harry though and didn't even seem to be put the slightest bit off by it. If anything, Harry's words only seemed to brighten Louis' mood. Harry tried to reason with himself that it could have been for a million different reasons, but he couldn't help but wonder if Louis really didn't want Harry to be with any girls, or any guys for that matter, other than himself.

As curious as Harry was, he let Louis switch the conversation to music. Harry wants to push things. To find out what Louis' true feelings are, but he's not yet sure if their friendship is strong enough to handle it. Someday, Harry would confront Louis about his feelings, but it would be when he was sure that, reciprocated or not, Louis wouldn't give up their friendship. Until then, Harry would keep things to himself... and maybe drop a few hints.

XX

Two weeks later Harry found himself at Tintagel Castle yet again to meet Louis after his shift. It was getting chillier now that it was mid-November, but the two boys had continued to meet at the ruins, which had the slight disadvantage of a seemingly constant cool sea breeze. Something that had been welcome in the warmer months but had kept Louis and Harry away from the outer edges of the ruins for the past few weeks.

Currently, the boys were in the courtyard at the very center of the ruins. It was an area that most tourists quickly passed through, eager to see the sea and cliffs, so it was almost as if they were alone the majority of the time. They had taken to saying hello as people passed quickly through before returning to their conversations.

Louis had told Harry which area had actually been the great hall once upon a time, and this soon became their favorite place to sit and talk. Harry liked imagining what it must have looked like before it began crumbling. He often got flashes of Hogwarts' great hall, but Harry wasn't so sure that would have been at all what Tintagel Castle would have looked like. Come to think of it, Harry wasn't all that sure what castles really looked like when Tintagel had been built. Hell, he wasn't even really sure what time period Tintagel Castle had been built in.

"Harry," Louis called to get the younger boy's attention. "What are you daydreaming about?" The older boy appeared slightly amused at how Harry had abruptly zoned out in the middle of their conversation.

"Just thinking about what this place must have looked like when it was first built," Harry explained as a slight blush spread across his cheeks thanks to Louis' proximity to his face.

Louis' eyes roamed around the ruins now. "I've wondered that myself a lot over the years. Too bad photographs didn't exist, huh? We'll never really be sure, I guess."

"So," Louis seemed to feel slightly awkward as he changed the topic. "I've been talking to Zayn about university a lot, since he's going next year too. Both of us want to be drama teachers, you know? We decided we might as well apply to the same school. Zayn mentioned it to Liam, and Liam decided to go with us, although studying something else of course. We applied to the University of Exeter the other day. If everything works out, we'll be attending uni together."

A heavy feeling settled in Harry's chest. He'd known this was coming, but he wasn't really ready for it. Applying was the first step towards Louis actually leaving Tintagel. Harry found hope in the fact that Louis would be with Zayn though, and he was glad to know that Louis wasn't going as far as London, which had been his original intention. Harry could see himself rangling Niall into regular trips to go visit their three friends. Exeter was only an hour and a half away after all. It may have been half a world away, but at least it wasn't the world away that London would have been.

"That's great!" Harry worked hard to keep his voice as excited as possible. "It's awesome that the three of you will be together." And he really meant that one.

"You and Niall will have to join us the year after next." Louis said it offhandedly, but Harry held onto the words as hope that their friendship wouldn't disappear even living far apart.

"You two will have to take us under your wings," Harry remarked light-heartedly. "We'll just breeze through uni thanks to you guys while you struggle through everything first."

Louis smirked. "I don't think anything us lowly future teachers can tell you will prepare you for becoming a physiotherapist, Harry."

"True enough," Harry chuckled.

"I promise to let you know about all the greatest parties though," Louis grinned.

Harry laughed, "Is that how you'll be spending most of your time then?"

"Of course," Louis remarked. The two boys were watching each other closely now as both of them tried unsuccessfully to contain their large smiles.

It was only a few minutes later when the other three boys of their newly expanded group joined them in the shadows of what had once been the great hall. It had become their routine. Harry and Louis would meet here early while Liam drove out to Wadebridge to pick up Niall and Zayn, and then the later three would join Louis and Harry at the ruins for the rest of the day. Or at least until they decided they'd had enough of the cold and wandered back to one of their houses.

"Did Louis tell you about applying to uni?" Niall questioned as he took a seat across from Harry. At Harry's nod he continued, "Yeah, Liam and Zayn kept talking about next year the entire ride here. I thought I was about to lose my mind. I can't believe they'll be living the high life while we're still stuck at Wadebridge."

"The high life?" Liam looked perplexed. "We're going to be struggling on our own in some strange city while we adjust to university. It's not as if we're going off to the land of dreams and partying and no worries. If anything we'll be so poor we can hardly pay for food."

"No parents though." Zayn seemed blissfully happy at the thought of this. "We'll just be living on our own. Making our own decisions."

Zayn, Liam, and Louis all got dreamy, far-off looks at Zayn's words. Harry and Niall simultaneously rolled their eyes, causing them to giggle at each other in amusement. Harry brought a hand to his mouth to try and suppress his laughter, but Niall made no such attempts, which caused the other three boys to shoot him looks.

"Sorry, mates," Niall choked through his laughter. "You're just so caught up in your daydreaming right now."

Niall continued to laugh uncontrollably as the other four boys watched on in amusement. Harry had learned over the past couple of months that Niall sometimes had these laughing fits, and there wasn't really much you could do to stop him. They just had to be waited out. It was one of the traits that had originally put him off from befriending the boy, but it was something that had endeared him to Niall over time.

"So," Liam spoke over Niall's laughter. "In all seriousness, we should probably come up with a plan. Like, should we start looking for a flat now, or wait until we find out if we're accepted?"

"I'm all for starting to look now," Zayn said.

"Yeah, if anything we can at least have some idea of what we're looking for," said Louis. "Should we look for one close to campus so that we can meet people easier?"

"Why do we need other people when we have each other?" Zayn joked.

Louis chuckled, "True, I suppose."

"So, a flat near campus then," Liam spoke as if ignoring the joking completely.

Louis and Zayn both looked at each other looked at each other before confirmation before nodding their approval to Liam.

"Okay," Liam said. "I guess we'll have to start looking at places. How do you even start?"

He looked back at the other four boys who could only shrug in confusion. None of them, even Harry who had moved recently, knew how one was supposed to start looking for places to live.

Liam sighed before muttering, "I guess I'll have to talk to my mum."

Harry had sat back and quietly listened to this exchange while Niall worked to calm his laughter. The whole thing left him feeling rather sad. He was happy for his friends, but he also didn't like the thought of them being so far away. He offered Louis a small smile though when the older boy glanced his way, and Harry was careful not to let his sadness show to the others. He really was happy for them, and he wanted them to know it.

The older three boys continued to intermittently talk about their future plans for the next couple of hours in between other conversations. Eventually, the boys had decided to head back to Liam's house to warm up as the ruins would be closing soon anyway. On the way, Harry found himself at Niall's side as they trailed behind the others, who were discussing their future flat yet again.

"It'll be okay, you know." Niall's words startled Harry out of his thoughts.

"What'll be okay?"

"Louis going away to school," Niall replied as if it was obvious. "It's not as if he's going to just abandon you." Harry was shocked that Niall seemed to have picked up on exactly what Harry was feeling. Harry had never pegged Niall as someone in tune with other's emotions.

"I'm not worried about Louis 'abandoning' me." Harry's voice betrayed his real feelings.

Niall shrugged. "I think you know he won't, but you're still irrationally worried about it."

There was a moment of silence before Harry spoke up. "And why did you just mention Louis? Liam and Zayn are leaving too."

"But you don't have feelings for Liam or Zayn." Niall ignored Harry, who had frozen at Niall's words, as he continued saying, "Although, I guess you can consider friendship as feelings, but you know what I mean. You definitely don't want in their pants." Niall finally realized that Harry was no longer beside him and turned questioningly back towards the other boy, who was now a bright red.

"I don't want in Louis' pants!" Harry stumbled over the words. An anxious glance showed him that the other three had gotten quite far ahead and were luckily paying no attention to him and Niall.

Niall laughed openly at Harry's words. "Yes, you most certainly do, mate. You look at him as if you'd jump him at any given moment." Niall seemed to realize that he wasn't really helping much, and he continued in a slightly softer voice. "It wouldn't matter, you know? I'm almost positive that Zayn and Liam know too, but we haven't talked about it. I think you two would be great together."

It was the greatest thing Niall had ever said to him, as cheesy as that sounded, and Harry felt lighter than he could remember ever feeling.

"Come on." Niall motioned for Harry to follow as he began moving to catch up with the others. "We can't let you get to far away from lover boy."

Harry's face scrunched up in displeasure. "Lover boy? Really, Niall?"

Niall just shrugged and shot Harry a grin over his shoulder before running off, leaving Harry to run after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea for the truth game came from The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen. It's actually the only place I've ever heard of the game, and I took the rules directly from there.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been three weeks since Louis, Zayn, and Liam had made the decision to find a flat together in Exeter. Since then they had found several prospective flats, and were even talking about taking a trip to go look at some of them soon. Harry couldn't help but feel that it was a little presumptuous since none of them had actually been accepted yet, but he kept those bitter thoughts to himself. Harry and Niall had been invited to come along, and when Louis had made the comment, "I'm sure the two of you will be there quite a lot anyway. You might as well help us choose one," Harry couldn't help the flush that filled his cheeks.

Even though Harry had no doubts that he would stay friends with the three boys, he still found himself in an almost constant state of sadness if he so much as thought about Louis moving away next September. This particular day was somewhat difficult as Liam had spent the entire ride home from Wadebridge talking about his plans for the coming year. Harry had been noncommittal the whole time, but Liam had been to caught up in his wistful planning, as he often was these days, to notice his friend's discomfort with the topic.

Harry was about to flop down on his bed and bury his face in his pillow when a certain key ring laying on the bedside table caught his eye. It was the trinket he had bought in the souvenir shop the first day he met Louis. Harry had come home that day and laid it on the table for lack of a better place to put it. There was no way he was actually using the tacky thing! Still, it had come to remind him of Louis, and he sometimes found himself looking at it or messing with it when he thought about the older boy.

Harry turned the key ring over in his hand as he lost himself in thoughts of Louis. He'd never been one of obsess over crushes. Harry had had a handful of girlfriends in the past, with each relationship varying in its seriousness, but never before had he found his thoughts so consumed by one person. It was somewhat scary to be completely honest, but Harry would never wish the feelings away.

Lately, Harry had been thinking about the future more than he ever had in the past. He really had no choice with all of his friends obsessing over it constantly. It almost seemed as if he'd skipped a year in that way. He found his thoughts consumed with things that would typically concern students a year ahead of him in school. Harry's own future uni and career plans were now much more pressing as he was determined to find a way to fit them together with Louis' and by some amazing chance of fate, Louis seemed to feel the same in that regard.

Louis had told the other boys that he wanted to find a flat that was large enough that Harry and Niall could potentially move in the year after next (an argument that he supplemented by reminding everyone that it would make the rent cheaper for each of them after the first year). Louis had pointed out that it was their own futures, and Niall and Harry had the freedom to do what they liked, but he also made it a point to remind them that the University of Exeter had perfectly good programs for what each of them wanted to study. There was no reason they shouldn't attend. Harry was fairly confident that Louis wanted Harry around in the future just as badly as Harry wanted Louis around, and that thought only strengthened Harry's growing feelings for the older boy.

As it was, the boys hadn't really been able to find any five bedrooms flats, at least not any that they could possibly pay for during their first year. Louis had remained optimistic, however. Instead, he now insisted that they would just have to hope that another flat opened up in the same building a year from now. The older boy's insistence on Harry and Niall joining them was enough to successfully quell Harry's fears for brief periods of time.

The doorbell ringing knocked Harry out of his thoughts. Knowing that his mum was at work for another couple of hours, he had no choice but to cut his wallowing short and get up to answer the door. He wasn't at all surprised to see Louis on the other side as the older boy had mentioned the day before that he might be coming by.

"Hey," Harry greeted as familiar butterflies filled his stomach. "How was work?"

As Tintagel Castle was now only open on the weekends, Louis had gotten another part-time job at the Tintagel Visitor's Center. It had been easy for him to get hired as he already knew quite a bit about the ruins, which were by far the most popular of Tintagel's tourist attractions. Louis had joked that he was never going to get away from tourists, but Harry thought the boy actually liked the job overall, even if he sometimes complained about the stupider tourists he had to deal with.

"Okay," Louis commented nonchalantly as the two boys made their way to Harry's room. "Guess what though." The older boy bounced up and down slightly from his spot across from Harry on the bed.

"What?" Harry questioned when it became clear that Louis wasn't going to continue until Harry responded.

"I just talked to Stan." Harry knew that Stan was Louis' best friend who was away at university. He'd heard about him quite a lot as almost all of Louis' stories about his past included Stan in some capacity. "He'll be home for the holidays in just a few weeks. You'll finally get to meet him!"

Harry forced a smile across his face. "That's great," he responded feebly. Louis didn't seem to notice his sudden discomfort though and just continued on with his excitement. It wasn't that Harry didn't want to meet Stan. Stan was obviously very important to Louis, which meant Harry wanted to get along with Stan. He really did. At the same time though, he worried that he'd be pushed to the side when Stan came back. Harry and Louis had become close enough over the past several months for Harry to consider Louis his best friend, and he was scared of what would happen to their friendship when Louis had his own best friend back, even if it was only for a couple of weeks.

"You guys will get along great," Louis continued. Harry and Louis had become very attuned to each other's emotions over the past months, but Louis' excitement seemed to have made him completely oblivious to anything Harry was feeling at that particular moment. He seemed extremely confident that Harry and Stan would be the best of friends. "I can't wait! We'll have to get together the five of us and invite Stan along. Liam and Zayn know him of course from school, but you and Niall still have to meet him."

Well, Harry thought, at least it was still "the five of us" Stan or no Stan.

"Yeah, we will," Harry replied half-heartedly. Harry found himself hoping that Louis didn't decide to take Stan to the ruins. He knew that, growing up in Tintagel, it was probably too much to hope for that Louis and Stan had never been there before, but in Harry's mind, it had become Louis and Harry's special place. Sure Liam, Niall, and Zayn came sometimes, but it was still predominantly the place that Louis and Harry were alone together. Harry didn't think he could take it if Louis decided to hang out with Stan there.

"What's wrong?" Harry finally looked up at Louis to see the older boy looking at him questioningly.

"Nothing," Harry replied instinctively.

Louis didn't look at all convinced.

"Really," Harry continued, getting slightly defensive. "Everything's fine. I can't wait to meet Stan. I'm sure he's great. It'll be awesome."

Louis still didn't believe him, but he didn't push it either. Instead, he changed the conversation from Stan completely, which Harry embraced immediately.

XX

That night Louis tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. The conversation with Harry had unnerved him a bit, but then again, a lot of things about Harry unnerved him. The moment Harry had walked into the souvenir shop in September and approached him so tentatively Louis had somehow known that this boy would completely change his life.

Louis had always known he was gay. It hadn't been easy for him to accept at first, but he had known. Then, just when he was beginning to accept it, it had happened, and Louis had done the only thing he knew to do: run from it. It couldn't happen again.

Then Harry came along and had to be the most attractive person Louis had ever laid eyes on. From the moment Louis saw him he knew Harry would cause him trouble. When the younger boy seemed determined to befriend him, Louis had panicked, but that didn't last long. Harry was persistent, and Louis found himself unable to stay away from the boy, especially when he saw that the boy wanted to be around him as well.

Every day Louis found himself stifling his real emotions, but Louis wasn't oblivious. Harry had feelings for him. That much was obvious. No one had ever looked at him the way Harry did, and that terrified him. It should have been easy. They both liked each other, perhaps even too much, but Louis couldn't give in. Not after what had happened to him the last time he had believed in someone too much.

Then today Harry had gotten so jealous when Louis talked about Stan, and Louis had wanted to assure him that everything was alright. That Stan may be his best friend, but Harry was so much more than that. But he couldn't. He couldn't do that to himself, and even more importantly, he couldn't risk dragging Harry into what Louis had been through before. So he kept his mouth shut. He didn't say anything. But if he had done the right thing, then why did Louis feel so guilty? He felt like a liar. After all isn't not revealing the whole truth just as bad as outright lying?

Louis loved Harry. He could deny that to the rest of the world, but not to himself. But was it enough to risk getting hurt again?


	7. Chapter 7

Harry fidgeted with his jumper as he examined himself in the mirror. He wasn't one to typically bother much with his appearance, but today he was meeting Stan. The desire to appear more attractive than Stan in front of Louis was probably irrational, but Harry couldn't help himself. Harry knew that he was fairly attractive, although he wasn't arrogant about it, but he had no idea how much competition Stan would be.

"You look fine." Harry jumped at the sound of Niall's annoyed voice. Turning around, he saw that the blonde was leaning in his doorway.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Just long enough to see you preening yourself like a madman," Niall said. "Your mum let me in."

The plan had been for Liam to pick up Zayn and Niall from Wadebridge and go straight to Louis' house, where they were planning on hanging out with him and Stan. Harry would meet everyone else there. Niall showing up at his house while he was trying so desperately to calm his nerves was not the plan.

"You look fine, mate." Niall assured him as he flopped down on Harry's bed. Harry had turned back towards the mirror. "If this is all because of Stan, you really don't need to worry. I was talking to Zayn and Liam about it on the drive over. They've both met the dude and said that you're definitely the more attractive one. Plus, we all think that a god could be plopped down in front of Louis, and he'd still only look at you."

Harry suddenly felt lighter after Niall's words, but he quickly controlled the smile on his face. "Why are you here?" he asked in an effort to change the subject.

Niall shrugged. "We thought you'd be a bit nervous, so Liam and Zayn dropped me off here. We figured I could force you to Louis' house in case your nerves got too much for you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Why do you guys seem to think I'm nervous about this?"

"Harry," Niall began as if speaking to a three-year-old. "Whenever Stan's name is mentioned you look like you want to throw up. I found you standing in front of a mirror like you see girls in movies doing before dates. Something that you're still doing, I might add." Harry immediately dropped the hand that had been fixing his hair and turned around to face Niall instead.

"I'm not worried." Harry crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his chest-of-drawers in an attempt to appear nonchalant. "I was just trying to occupy time before going over."

"Right," Niall replied in a tone that implied he clearly didn't believe him but wasn't going to bother pressing the issue. "Come on." Niall stood from the bed and motioned for Harry to follow. "We should get going. Liam and Zayn will have been there for a while now."

Harry couldn't help but take one more quick glance in the mirror before leaving the room, which caused Niall to laugh as he went through the door and out into the hall.

"So, you haven't met him yet. Have you?" Harry asked Niall as they walked the few blocks to Louis' house.

"No, I told you that Liam and Zayn dropped me off here on their way to Louis' didn't I?" Niall sounded slightly annoyed now because of Harry's nervous questioning. "The guys say he's a fun lad though. Apparently he's a lot like Louis when it comes to goofing off. We should be entertained tonight at least."

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about Louis and Stan being similar. It made sense, he supposed, but it probably meant that Louis would be having too much fun with Stan to pay any attention to Harry at all.

It didn't take long for Niall to notice the displeasure on Harry's face. "What about that could have possibly upset you?" he groaned. "So they're alike in some ways. What does it matter? You know, Louis is like his sisters in some ways too, but you're not jealous of them, are you?"

"That's different! They're his family."

"So's Stan," Niall rolled his eyes. "From the impression I get, him and Louis are quite close. He's probably more like a brother than anything else. Louis certainly doesn't talk about him like he talks about you."

"He's been going on about Stan for weeks," Harry pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's not how much he talks about Stan. It's how he talks about Stan." At Harry's confused glance, Niall continued, "He's been going on and on about Stan lately, and sure he's always really happy when he talks about him. But it's no more happy than he is when he's talking about his sisters and mum. However, I don't think you know just how much Louis talks about you when you're not around. Much more than he talks about Stan at any rate, and it's different too. It's more... affectionate I guess. Or a different kind of affection at least. His entire face changes. He has a different look in his eye and a different smile. It's nothing like when he's talking about Stan or anyone else for that matter."

Harry was unable to hide his large smile as he gripped Niall's shoulder in gratitude. "Thanks, mate. That really did help."

"I didn't tell you anything you wouldn't know for yourself if you'd actually pay attention," Niall grumbled, but any real annoyance was now gone, replaced by amusement as he cracked a smile at Harry. "Come on," he began ushering Harry forward again. "We really are running behind now."

"Harry! Niall!" Louis excitedly ushered the two boys into the house. It had taken him only seconds to answer the door, and he seemed to be a ball of pure energy at the moment. Harry knew he'd been looking forward to this moment for the past few weeks.

Louis' excitement proved to be contagious, and soon Harry and Niall were wearing just as bright smiles as Louis as they were led into the living room where the other boys had gathered.

"This is Stan," Louis motioned towards the only boy in the room who was unfamiliar to Harry. Harry nodded politely to the boy as he rose and made his way over to Harry and Niall.

"Nice to meet you." Stan stuck his hand out for Niall to shake. "You must be Niall."

Niall nodded. "Good to meet you, mate. Louis has talked a lot about you." Niall smiled at the boy before pushing Zayn closer to Liam on the couch so that he could take the other end.

"And you're Harry," Stan stated as he turned towards the final boy he had yet to meet. Stan's smile was bright as he shook Harry's hand.

"Yeah," Harry replied nervously. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Stan said. "Louis does almost nothing but talk about you. Whenever I talk to him on the phone, I have to pester him for any information that doesn't involve you. You're all he ever wants to talk about."

Harry wasn't sure what to make of the look Stan was giving him, so he just nodded as if he was unsurprised. Louis was watching their exchange intently, apparently eager to see how his two best friends would get along. Zayn, Liam, and Niall were trying to appear absorbed in their own conversation, but they couldn't hide the frequent looks they were shooting at Harry as they waited to see how he reacted to Stan.

"He talks about you a lot too," Harry finally decided to say. It was true, and no matter what Harry's worries were, he didn't want Stan to think he was some enemy that had moved to Tintagel and replaced him.

"Good to know I'm not forgotten," Stan laughed as he moved to sit in one of the armchairs in the room.

Harry went to sit on the floor, letting Louis have the only other seat in the room, but Louis shook his head and pulled Harry to the other armchair. Harry wanted to refuse, but before he could say anything, Louis had pushed him into the chair and taken a seat on Harry's lap. It wasn't unusual. The two boys had sat this way a number of times before. After all, Louis and Harry had become notorious for being very affectionate and touchy with each other, but Harry hadn't been expecting it today. Liam, Niall, and Zayn appeared completely unsurprised, but Harry noticed Stan watching them closely, still with an unreadable expression. Harry wasn't able to ponder on this long however, as Louis quickly drew Harry's attention to him. Harry was never able to keep his eyes away from Louis for long whenever they were together. The older boy was like a magnet, and Harry never even tried resisting.

Later that evening Harry was forced to walk home with Stan. Liam had left to take Zayn and Niall back to Wadebridge, and as it turned out, Stan's house was in the same direction from Louis' as Harry's was. Louis had offered to come with them, but both boys had reassured him that they would be fine without him. Louis had accepted this rather easily. Harry figured it secretly thrilled Louis that his two best friends would have time to bond together.

Harry had discovered over the course of the night that they actually got along rather well. Niall had been right. Louis and Stan were extremely close, but there was just something missing from Stan and Louis' relationship that was present in Louis and Harry's. Harry even learned that Stan had a girlfriend that he'd been dating for almost a year now. (Not that he'd ever even thought of Stan and Louis' relationship as romantic, but it was reassuring all the same.) Reassured that he wasn't going to be replaced in the slightest, Harry had opened up to Stan, and he found himself laughing joyously with the other boy as they made their way home in the dark.

"You're perfect for each other, you know?" Stan's statement was abrupt and out of nowhere. Just seconds ago Harry'd been laughing at some joke Stan had made, but now the look on Stan's face caused Harry to instantly become serious.

"You're the first guy he's ever been like this with," Stan continued. "Although, it's not as if Tintagel has a vibrant gay community, but still, he's never shown so much affection for someone." It was the closest anyone had come to outright calling either he or Louis gay, and Harry was filled with instant curiosity.

"But Louis hasn't said anything about-"

"He wouldn't have," Stan cut Harry off. "Look, that's all stuff Louis needs to tell you when he's ready. It's just... He acts all confident all the time, but he has insecurities. And his sexuality is the only one that is justified." Stan quickly continued when Harry shot him a horrified look. "Not because there's anything wrong with being gay, but because of what's happened to him before because of it. Like I said, Tintagel doesn't have a gay community. It's not because we don't have gays..." Stan trailed off as if hoping Harry would pick up on what he was implying.

"Something happened to him before, didn't it?" Harry questioned. "Someone did something to him because he's gay. That's why he's scared."

"I think you should talk to him about it."

XX

"I can never decide if having your birthday on Christmas Eve is a good or a bad thing," Louis said as he and Harry walked the streets of Tintagel the next day. They had no real destination. The castle ruins were closed as was almost every thing else in the village.

Harry watched Louis attentively as the older boy continued. "Everything's always closed, and everyone is so focused on Christmas. Plus, you get all of your birthday presents and Christmas presents at once, so it feels as if you're getting less, even if you actually aren't."

"And the positives?" Harry asked. He couldn't see any. To Harry, having a birthday during the Christmas season sounded awful.

"Your family's already getting together anyway, so you get to see them all," Louis smiled. "And people tend to be in a good mood. I've always been a fan of the holidays, but then again, I suppose I would be." Louis let out a small chuckle that caused Harry to smile as well.

"I guess those are good things," Harry conceded. "And getting double the presents could definitely be a positive. Speaking of presents..."

Harry handed Louis the small package that he'd been carrying in his jacket. Louis grabbed it before Harry could even process what was happening and moved to sit on the bench in front of one of the small shops lining this particular street. Harry watched eagerly as Louis tore off the wrapping paper of the small item.

"Is this?" Louis held it up as if he was having trouble seeing it in the light.

"The key ring I bought when I met you the first time at Tintagel Castle," Harry smiled as he took in Louis' puzzled expression. "I really have no use for it, and I figured you'd need something to remind you of me while you're off at uni next year."

Louis smiled up at Harry. "So, you buy some useless trinket you don't need just to talk to me, and then you peddle it off on me later so you don't have to use it?"

"Exactly," Harry smirked.

Louis laughed a little before looking Harry in the eyes and saying, "I'll take it with me everywhere I go." Harry's breath caught as he tried to figure out if the comment had been serious.

Harry couldn't give it much thought as Louis continued, "You better have put actual thought into my Christmas present for tomorrow."

"Hey!" Harry protested. "I put a lot of thought into this present."

Louis snorted.

"Fine," Harry tried to glare, but he couldn't fight against the smile forcing itself onto his face. "Maybe I won't give you your Christmas present."

Louis eyes widened. "No! I love my birthday present, Harry. Please let me have it!"

Louis had latched himself onto Harry with his arms wrapped around the younger boy. Harry almost forgot how to breath as he took in nothing but Louis' scent. Harry's mind refused to work, and he couldn't think of one word to say to Louis.

The older boy seemed to have noticed Harry's predicament, and he smirked a little as Harry struggled to form words. It was quiet for a few moments before Louis buried his face in Harry's neck. Harry stiffened for a second before wrapping his own arms around Louis and burying his face in Louis' hair.

It was the most intimate moment that Harry had ever shared with someone. They weren't kissing or going nearly as far as Harry had with people in the past, but this moment was so intensely different from anything that Harry had ever experienced before. He knew Louis felt the same way, but neither of them wanted to ruin the moment with words. Harry felt as if everything was perfect in that moment. Things were simple and entirely uncomplicated.

Harry still wasn't sure how Louis felt about him, but it didn't matter just then. Whether Louis felt the same as Harry wasn't important in that moment because Harry could tell just how important he was to the other boy, romantically or not.

"You're warm," Louis muttered, which pulled Harry out of his thoughts.

"So are you," Harry responded. He attempted to pull Louis even closer, but it really didn't help much as they were already as close as they could possibly get.

"Can we stay like this for a while?" Louis asked. "I don't want to get up and be cold again."

"Sure," Harry smiled. He was thrilled that Louis wanted to be this close to him.

There was no one else on the street. Most of the people in Tintagel were probably celebrating Christmas Eve with family or preparing for the next day's celebrations. Louis and Harry seemed to be the only two who were taking advantage of the outdoors today. All of the shops around them were closed, and there were small snow flurries every so often. It was no wonder no one was venturing outdoors. Harry didn't mind though. Not when he was with Louis.

After a few quiet moments, Louis stuck his cold nose to Harry's neck. The action sent shivers down Harry's spine. First because of the cold and then because he was keenly aware of how close Louis' mouth was to his neck. He tried to calm himself. Louis was only trying to warm himself after all. Harry tried to control his now anxious breathing, but it was hard when he breathed in Louis' scent and could feel Louis' own breath on his skin.

Then, just as suddenly as the touch had started, it ended. Louis pulled away from Harry and got to his feet. The two boys looked at each other for a long moment, both with wide, hesitant eyes. As the silence began to get awkward, Louis reached his hand out and waited for Harry to take it, so he could pull the younger boy up. "Come on," Louis spoke softly. "We should head inside where it's warmer.

Harry took Louis' hand as he stood and sighed a little when the older boy dropped it as soon as Harry was standing. They began walking towards Harry's house in silence. The quiet wasn't awkward now though. The two boys walked in a companionable silence. Still, Harry wished they could go back to the intimacy they had been experiencing mere minutes ago.

Harry had come to know Louis better than he did anyone else, but there were still things that confused him about the older boy. Most of those things centered around their relationship. They were more than friends. Harry knew that Louis could tell that too, but Louis always seemed to get scared the moment anything remotely unplatonic was about to happen. Whether Louis was scared of being gay or scared of Harry, Harry couldn't tell. And that bothered him.


	8. Chapter 8

Things hadn't changed a month later. It was now the end of January, and Harry was just as confused by Louis as he had been on Christmas Eve. If anything, time had only made it worse. Harry was starting to wonder if he would ever get Louis to explain to him what was going on. What Stan had said last month was constantly playing in Harry's mind, and he didn't have the guts to mention it to Louis. Something told Harry that it wasn't something Louis liked to talk about, and Harry was reluctant to do anything that might upset Louis, which meant Harry was doomed to never fully understand.

It was a typical Saturday. Sticking to the routine they'd had since October, Harry was currently walking out to Tintagel Castle to meet Louis once he was done with his shift at the gift shop. This particular day the other three boys wouldn't be joining them. Zayn's drama class had a performance later that night, Niall had family from Ireland visiting, and Liam was spending the day with Danielle. As much as Harry enjoyed spending days with all four of his best mates, he particularly loved these days that he got to spend alone with Louis.

Once inside the ruins, it didn't take Harry long to come across Louis, who was waiting for him in the lower mainland courtyard not far from the entrance.

"I thought we could go up by the cliffs." Louis motioned in the direction of the cliffs that offered a view of the mainland from out on the island.

Harry shrugged, "Sounds fine. We haven't been over there in a while." The cold weather had kept them from spending too much times at the ruins lately, and they especially stayed away from the water because of the cool breezes. There were few things Harry would ever deny Louis though, so if Louis wanted to go to the cliffs, then to the cliffs they would go.

The two boys began the walk from the mainland to the island part of the ruins. Once they'd made it to the cliffs, they laid back on the grass and stared out at the ocean and mainland. Harry never got tired of the views out here, and he and Louis were quiet for several minutes as they stared out across the cliffs.

Then Louis broke the silence by mentioning something that hadn't been brought up in the past several weeks. "Zayn, Liam, and I narrowed it down to two potential flats yesterday. We're going to check them out next weekend and make a final decision. You and Niall are invited along."

Harry nodded, "Of course I'll come." It wasn't out of the blue by any means. Harry had been expecting this for over a month now, but each step that led towards Louis moving away caused Harry a bit of grief. He still wasn't ready for what September would bring.

"Great," Louis smiled brightly. "You'll have to tell us truthfully what you think of each flat. It'll be a tough decision. I've never had to pick out a place to live before."

"I'll see if I can drudge up any memories of what my mum said while looking at houses in Tintagel," Harry joked.

Harry's words seemed to remind Louis of something. "Speaking of mums, mine wanted to come along. I have a feeling I'm going to have to practically force her to stay behind even though she eventually agreed. She can't believe her 'baby,'" Louis said the last word in a disgusted tone, "is growing up and getting a place of his own."

"Maybe she would be useful," Harry suggested. "She'd know what to look for at any rate."

"Yeah," Louis began playing with the grass as he spoke. "I want to do this on my own though or just with you guys at least. I don't want my mum around telling me which flat to choose. I want to do it on my own."

Harry smiled as Louis looked up at him. "That's understandable." Louis smiled back at Harry before the younger boy continued, "And she can always tell you if you've made a horrible mistake afterward."

Louis' smile dropped. He shoved Harry, muttering, "Prat," before breaking out into laughter.

Harry smiled too, but then, as his thoughts turned to darker places, he began to frown. "Louis," he began cautiously. Louis' eyes focused right in on Harry's at the tone of the younger boy's voice. "I was just wondering," Harry continued. "What do you think will happen next year?"

Louis' brow knitted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Harry looked down at the grass and began pulling blades of it out of the ground. "With us, I mean." It was silent a moment before Harry continued rambling on. "I know we've talked about it before kind of, but what do you really think will happen? Like, how much will we talk?"

Harry glanced up to see Louis looking at him intently. Neither boy said a word for a few moments, and Harry was almost beginning to feel uncomfortable under Louis' intense gaze.

Finally, Louis spoke in a bright voice. "I think we'll talk to each other all the time. You have to have more faith in me than that, Harry," Louis smirked. "You can't honestly think I'd just leave, and you'd never see me again. I'm not that much of an arsehole."

Harry's smile lit up his face. "Of course not. I never doubted that we'd stay in touch. I just meant how much."

Louis' eyes began to sparkle the way Harry had noticed they sometimes did when he was joking around or really happy. Harry wasn't sure which one this was. "Every day if you'll bother putting up with me that much."

A warm feeling spread through Harry's stomach, and he tried to reign in his smile that was suddenly ten times brighter than before. "I think I can put up with you that much."

"Good," Louis chuckled. "It wouldn't do for you to finally get tired of me after I'm gone."

"Never," Harry replied with more conviction than was probably necessary. He'd never been more sure of something in his life. "You're stuck with me for the rest of our lives."

Louis' gaze suddenly became very intense as he stared straight into Harry's eyes. "I intend to make you keep that promise," he spoke softly.

Harry took in a sharp breath. Louis' words made it nearly impossible for Harry to keep his composure. In fact, it took almost all of his control to keep from grabbing Louis and kissing him right there. The two boys just sat there watching each other closely. Neither one wanted to break the moment. The ruins were nearly deserted on this particular day, and the only sound was the water lapping against the sides of the cliffs below them.

It was in that moment that Harry knew. He knew that Louis felt the same way he did. For the first time, Harry felt brave enough to act upon his feelings. Then, just as Harry was opening his mouth to speak, Louis' eyes suddenly widened. As if he knew what was coming, Louis sprung off of the ground, reached for Harry's hand to pull him up, and began speaking all in a matter of seconds. "We should head back into town."

Harry nodded, still determined to talk about things as they walked, but it never came to fruition. The entire walk back to Tintagel, Louis kept up a steady stream of excited chatter. Upon entering the village, Louis offered some sad attempt at an excuse and ran back to his house, leaving Harry to walk back home alone and dejected. Someday he would confront Louis about it, but it seemed Louis wasn't ready yet. Harry just wondered how long it would take him.

XX

It was only a few days later when Harry's life took a somewhat unexpected twist. Things had been complicated lately, he wasn't denying that, but at least he'd gotten somewhat used to dealing with his feelings for Louis. He wasn't expecting to face something that could potentially ruin whatever progress he'd managed to make with Louis the past several months. Then, one morning his mother announced over breakfast that she needed to speak with him.

Anne gripped a warm mug tightly in her hands as she debated how to start the discussion. Harry could tell that he wasn't going to like whatever she had to say, and the thought made him a bit nauseous.

"Mum," Harry finally sighed as he moved some eggs around with his fork. "Can you just say it, please?"

Anne took a deep breath. "How would you feel about moving back to Holmes Chapel?"

"What!?" Of all the things his mother could have said, that was the last thing Harry had been expecting, and it threw him completely for a loop. "But- You can't-" Harry took a moment to collect himself before saying more calmly, "You just uprooted us five-six- whatever months ago! You can't do that again!"

"I'm not saying we're moving back for sure," Anne tried to sooth Harry. "I just wanted your opinion."

"Why?" Harry questioned sharply. "Why do you want to move back now?"

"I was talking to your aunt last week, and it just hit me how much I miss her." Anne was looked down at the table. "I realize that I can't just move you again so suddenly though. I thought I'd talk to you about it, and see if you were open to the idea." She shook her head as a small smile appeared on her face. "I knew you'd say no though. You've become closer to those four boys than you ever were with any of your friends back in Holmes Chapel." She finally looked up at Harry. "Especially Louis. I couldn't live with myself if I took you away from him."

Harry's eyes widened. She knew. He wondered how long she had known without saying anything. Harry supposed he really underestimated his mum sometimes.

"How's this?" Anne leaned over to take one of Harry's hands in her own. "We can stay in Tintagel if you promise me one thing." She waited for the slight nod of acknowledgement before continuing. "You better make some progress with that boy because I don't know how much longer I can sit around and watch you two pretend that there's nothing more between you."

Harry blushed and turned away from the table. "Mum," he groaned.

Anne laughed for the first time that morning before putting on a sterner look. "I mean it," she stated.

"It's just not that easy," Harry sighed.

Anne moved closer to Harry and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him into her side. "Why? Because he's a boy or because it's Louis?"

"Both, I suppose."

"Harry," Anne sighed. "I don't want to get all preachy and spout off cheesy things like, 'Don't let fear stop you,' but it's true. I don't want you to waste away your life because you were too scared to do what would make you happy."

Harry shook his head. "But it's not just me, Mum. What about Louis?"

"What about him?" Anne asked rhetorically. "The same goes for him. You're never going to convince me that he doesn't feel the same way, and each of you deserves to be happy. I'm not saying that you should force him out or anything, but you do need to talk to him about this, Harry. It's the only way any of this will be resolved."

"I know." Harry laid his head on his mother's shoulder, feeling much younger than his sixteen years. "I tried the other day, but it was like he knew what was coming and freaked out. He wouldn't let me say anything after that. How am I supposed to talk to him about it if he's unwilling?"

"You can't," Anne looked sadly at her son. "Unfortunately you're going to have to wait until he's willing, but that doesn't mean you can't try to speed things up. Just let him know you're there. He'll come around, possibly quickly."

"Possibly," Harry sighed. "Not likely."

Anne smiled slightly at her son and ruffled his hair as she stood up. "It'll be okay," she assured him. "Everything will work out in the end."

"I sure hope so." Harry picked his fork back up and resumed shoveling scrambled eggs into his mouth.

Harry's conversation with his mother continued to occupy his thoughts for the rest of the day. He spent every class zoned out, which left his friends to wonder just what was up with him. They left him alone though, as if sensing that he needed to work through things on his own. After school that day, Harry found himself on his bed as he stared up at the ceiling from his bed. His homework was being put off until later as he let himself finally get completely lost in his thoughts.

Harry knew what his feelings for Louis were. There wasn't a doubt in Harry's mind that he was falling in love with the older boy. It should have been so simple, yet there was so much more that Harry just couldn't figure out. He still hadn't forgotten his conversation with Stan in the days before Christmas. It had been more than a month since then, and Harry still hadn't gotten Louis to open up to him about what had apparently happened in the past. Louis seemed extremely reluctant to discuss anything of the sort with Harry. Harry couldn't figure out if Louis' discomfort came from liking guys or if it had something to do with Harry himself.

Then there was the question of his own sexuality. Harry'd had hunches before that he wasn't exactly straight, but he'd never felt like this for anyone before: male or female. Was he gay? Bisexual? He wasn't sure. Harry knew that there were plenty of people who didn't bother labeling themselves, and Harry quite liked the idea of that. But he would still have liked to figure out if he was attracted to girls at all, and that wasn't easy to do when he could think of no one but Louis. One girl had attempted to flirt with him the other day, and Harry had failed to even pretend to be interested. Was it because he wasn't attracted to her gender or because of his feelings for Louis? Then again, maybe that wouldn't matter much if Harry could get Louis to open up to him. After all, why did Harry need to know if he wasn't interested in a relationship with anyone other than Louis?

There was a small part of Harry that worried about what others would think. He wasn't naive enough to think that everyone in such a village such as Tintagel would be accepting, but he figured he could handle it. Harry wondered if that was what Louis was afraid of. Could the older boy be worried about what others would think? In the five months that Harry had known Louis, Harry had come to realize that Louis did actually have insecurities. That wasn't something you realized as soon as you met him. Louis was loud and crazy and seemed to exude confidence. At first. Could his sexuality be one thing that caused Louis to doubt himself? Harry hated to admit that he would be slightly relieved if the answer to that question was yes.

If the reason Louis was so distant was because he was scared to like anyone who wasn't a girl, then Harry could work with that. He could assure Louis that everything was all right, and Louis could overcome it. He couldn't live his entire life in fear after all.

On the other hand, if Louis' problem was that he didn't want to be with Harry and was trying to avoid having the talk, that was something Harry couldn't help. That was what left Harry hoping that his best friend was actually scared of his sexuality no matter how horrible that made him feel.

But no matter how long he laid there mulling everything over, Harry still couldn't figure everything out completely. There was just too much. He had to think about himself and Louis and their relationship. He didn't even know where to start. In fact, he may have been even more confused than before.


	9. Chapter 9

It was a month after his talk with his mum that Harry decided to talk to the boys about his sexuality. He'd decided the exact day he'd do it a week earlier, and on the designated day of the talk Harry woke up feeling nervous and unsure of himself. His friends didn't strike him as the homophobic type, and Harry could vividly remember what Niall had said to him almost six months ago. Niall had seemed confident that none of the other boys would care either, but it didn't stop Harry from worrying. Sometimes it was easy for people to be accepting of differences that they didn't actually have to encounter first-hand.

Harry forced these thoughts out of his head as he got ready to meet the boys at Tintagel Castle. Worrying wouldn't help anything, and he'd spent far too much time planning what he was going to say to back out now. Over the past month, Harry had determined that he was without a doubt attracted to guys, not that he seemed to notice any but Louis. Still, being attracted to one guy was enough for Harry. He still wasn't sure how he felt about girls, but at this point that was the least of his worries.

As Harry heard the doorbell ring and his mum call up the stairs that Liam was waiting for him, Harry immediately regretted telling the boys yesterday that he wanted to speak to them about something important today. At the time it had seemed like a good idea because it would insure that they all came and took him seriously. Now Harry worried about what he would say to Liam as they walked to the ruins alone. It left him cursing the fact that Zayn had recently passed his driving test, which left Liam free from having to go pick up the two Wadebridge boys.

A quick glance at his dresser caused a certain picture to catch his eye. It was the five boys exactly a month ago. The picture had been taken just several days after his talk with his mum. Liam had the idea. He said that they didn't have any pictures as a group, and he wanted one before he and Zayn graduated and went off to uni with Louis. It had only taken about a week before he'd gotten copies of the photo for all the boys.

Harry had scoffed slightly at the time because he'd thought Liam was being too sentimental, but now Harry was wondering if this would be the only picture the five of them took together. It was probably an unnecessary thought. If he was thinking entirely rationally, Harry would have probably not been too worried about his friends accepting him. To be truthful, Harry was more worried about what came after telling his friends. Niall had reassured him that they would accept him no matter what, and Harry was fairly confident that this was true when he was able to think rationally. He wasn't so sure that the rest of the school or town would be the same way, and that was a bit distressing.

As much as Harry had grown to love Tintagel, it wasn't filled with the most progressive of thinkers, and he still very much felt like the new kid. The outsider who would become even more of an outsider once it became clear that he was "different."

Harry forced the thoughts out of his mind as he made his way down the stairs to where Liam was standing by the door waiting. The older boy seemed impatient as he leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed in front of him.

"About time," Liam muttered before turning around and pulling the door open. He walked out of the house, not even making sure Harry was right behind him.

"What's the rush?" Harry complained. He had to jog a little to catch up to Liam's quick pace.

"Not a rush." Liam even slowed down a bit to emphasis his words. "I just got tired of awkwardly standing at your front door."

Harry snorted. "You could have come in, you know. Sat down in the living room. Come up to my room. You didn't need to just stand there."

"Your mum was on the phone with your sister. Didn't want to intrude." Liam hesitated before continuing, "And you've been kind of distant lately. I didn't want to walk in while you were freaking out about telling us you like boys or however you're going to word it."

Liam to stopped walking as soon as he realized that Harry had frozen beside him and turned towards his younger friend.

"You- What- I-" Harry finally gave up all attempts at speech. Instead, he stood there gaping at Liam, who seemed far too amused about all of this.

"I don't know why it's so shocking that we know," Liam smirked. "You stare at Louis as if he's God's gift to humanity. How is it not obvious?"

"Well- I mean-" Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "I knew Niall knew, and he said you and Zayn did too, but I just- I don't know. I guess on some level I figured you guys didn't know because if you did it would have changed something."

Liam sighed before wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders and pulling him along. "It doesn't change anything at all," Liam spoke softly. "You really do need to talk to Louis though. There are some things Niall doesn't know, and it's not Zayn or I's place to say anything."

Harry turned to Liam sharply. "Is this what Stan wouldn't tell me back in December?"

"Probably," Liam looked at the ground. "He was right for not telling you though. It's Louis' place, not ours."

"It's about his sexuality isn't it?"

"Like I said, talk to him." But the look on Liam's face gave him away. Harry still had no idea what had happened to Louis in the past, but at least he was closer to finding it out.

By the time they reached Tintagel Castle, Harry was feeling much better about what he was going to say. Liam probably had no idea how comforting his words had been, but Harry felt more carefree than he had the past month. The other three boys were all smiles when Harry and Liam found them down by the beach. With spring time getting nearer, it was just the slightest bit warmer, and the other boys had apparently wanted to take advantage of that by spending time down by the water. The cloudless sky they were having today helped even more as the bright sun shone down on them and reflected off the water.

Liam and Harry joined the other three boys where they'd perched themselves on a large rock ten feet from the water's edge. Zayn, Niall, and Louis immediately looked at Harry as if they expected him to dive right into what he had to say.

Figuring it was now or never, Harry spoke, "So, Liam brought it to my attention that you guys probably have a good idea what I'm going to say." Harry paused a minute and looked at the other boys. Liam, Niall, and Zayn were smiling at him, but Louis looked nervous. Upon seeing the look on Louis' face, it took all of Harry's courage to continue.

"I've been struggling a bit with my sexuality lately." Harry's voice was quiet, but it felt good to get it out. "I'm still not really sure what I am. Maybe I never will, but I do know that I'm attracted to guys. That's the only thing I've been able to work out really."

Harry's eyes had focused on a pebble near his foot, so he was surprised when he was suddenly attacked by a very happy boy.

"I'm so glad you finally admitted it." Niall jumped up and down with his arms still around Harry.

Harry looked past Niall and saw that the other three boys were smiling at him as well. Even Louis looked genuinely happy that Harry had confided in them, although Harry thought he sensed something else in Louis' expression as well.

"You're all good with this, right?" Harry asked nervously.

Zayn scoffed, "Of course we are, mate. Did you seriously think we would care?"

Harry shrugged and avoided their gazes as he took a spot next to Louis. "Not really, but I guess my nerves just got the better of me. You know how you hear about people who come out and all their friends abandon them or they get bullied or what not." Harry trailed off as he felt Louis stiffen beside him. Something Harry had said had triggered that response, and Harry knew he was getting closer to understanding what had happened to the older boy.

XX

Harry had thought coming to terms with his sexuality would be the first step to sorting out his somewhat complicated relationship with Louis. Apparently, he'd been completely wrong. It had been three weeks since he'd admitted everything to his best mates, and over the course of the past three weeks, Louis had started acting odder and odder around Harry. Harry still wasn't any closer to figuring out whatever the hell it was that Stan, Liam, and Zayn were keeping from him, and from the looks of it he wasn't going to learn any time soon.

After Harry's so-called "coming out," Louis had seemed just the slightest bit odd but more-or-less things were normal. It wasn't until a week later when Harry decided that the two of them really needed to talk about things that Louis really began his odd behavior. It was as if Louis had seen the discussion coming and was terrified of it. All of that led Harry to believe that the problem here wasn't that Harry liked boys. It was that Harry liked Louis, and Louis didn't seem to like that. None of which really added up because Harry was pretty certain that Louis felt the same way about him.

This was the third weekend that Harry wasn't seeing Louis, who had yet another excuse as to why he was too busy to see Harry. The other boys seemed even more perplexed than Harry. Louis hadn't stooped quite so low as to completely avoid the other three members of their group, but each of them had informed Harry that he'd completely blanched whenever they so much as mentioned Harry's name and changed the subject before much could be said. Liam in particular seemed upset, as if it was him who was being ostracized, not Harry. "I just thought he'd gotten over this," he said once to Harry, who'd immediately asked for an explanation, but Liam had refused to give one.

Harry had to admit that Louis' avoidance stung. It hurt far more than the occasional insults now being thrown his way by the pricks Liam had once called friends. Harry hadn't really come out to the school per se, but he didn't hide anything either. It didn't take long for Liam's former friends to hear about the "gay boy," and they wasted no time trying to make his life miserable. It might have actually hurt somewhat if Harry wasn't so sure that their insults came more from the fact that he had "stolen" Liam from them then his sexual preferences. Besides, he had no time to focus on those arseholes when his mind was constantly preoccupied with thoughts of Louis.

His mum had been worried a bit at first when Harry got quieter. She expressed her worry that bullying was the cause of his weird behavior, but she had seemed to accept Harry's explanation that the bullies weren't the problem. Harry could have cared less about them. Louis was bothering him far more than those bullies would ever be able to, and while Harry was mostly able to go on with life like normal, there was constantly a part of him that was trying to sort things out in his mind, which caused him to become much quieter than he'd ever been in his life.

"Hey, faggot."

Harry groaned as the familiar voice called out as they approached Harry from behind.

"Fuck off, Bo."

"Oh, a feisty gay boy," Bo laughed. The others in the group soon joined in, but Harry ignored them as he slammed his locker closed. Their insults had no effect on him, but he really wished they would stop following him around and showing up in random places. It was annoying.

Bo's insults in particular bounced off of him. After a talk with Liam the other day, Harry learned that Bo was being a bit hypocritical about this whole thing. Unsurprisingly, Liam had been the only trustworthy one of the group, and as the only one they could trust, he'd apparently heard quite the amount of confessions from his old friends. For instance, none of the others had any idea that their friend who was leading the "insult Harry Styles" parade secretly wished he could come out as well. It struck Harry as pretty sad honestly.

"I've got class, guys," Harry spoke nonchalantly as he entered a classroom before turning to wave at them briefly. "I'll see you guys later." He knew that his indifference to their insults drove them crazy, and he loved it. He'd taken to pretending they were just his friends walking with him through the halls and ignoring every insult thrown his way. Only occasionally did he actually react. It was oddly satisfying.

"Are they still bothering you?" Zayn asked as Harry took the desk next to him. He sounded angrier about it than Harry himself.

"Of course they are." Harry shrugged as he pulled a textbook out of his bag. "I just wish that Bo wasn't so scared about being gay that he has to insult me about it."

Zayn scoffed. "Who cares? Scared or not, he's an arsehole."

"I know," Harry sighed. "I hate that he feels he has to hide it from his friends though. Some friends. I'd rather befriend Lord Voldemort."

"You and me both," Zayn muttered before turning towards their teacher, who was beginning class.

Harry zoned out the teacher as his thoughts once again drifted to Louis, wondering if similar bullying had led to how he was acting now. By the end of class, Harry didn't have a clue what the teacher had talked about that day, but he figured he could look over Zayn's notes at lunch.

Harry should have known not to expect a peaceful walk to his sociology class. He would never have expected, however, to come across Liam with the arseholes. Liam hadn't really spoken to his old group of friends for months now. Harry was puzzled until he realized that Niall was there as well and trying to pull Liam away from the boys.

As Harry and Zayn hurried over, Harry could hear Liam growl, "Leave him alone."

Liam was right in Bo's face and looked far angrier than Harry had ever seen him. It was almost scary.

"He can take it." Bo tried to appear confident, but Liam's aggression seemed to freak him out. The other members of the group had backed away and left Bo defenseless.

"You have no right to say any of those things," Liam yelled. Other students were gathering around. Most of them staring in awe at the usually friendly Liam Payne yelling at another student. "I don't know why you have to try and bring Harry down to make yourself feel better, but all it's going to do is make things worse for you in the end. Not once has Harry done anything to you, but you treat him like shit anyway."

Liam was on a roll now, and not even Bo dared to say anything. "Who the fuck cares if he's gay or whatever the hell he wants to label himself as? Harry's one of the most amazing people I've ever met, and you're a fucked up arsehole who can't even be yourself because you chose the most fucked up group of friends imaginable."

Liam turned to his old friends to address all of them at once. "I'm so glad I got away from you guys. Have fun trying to ruin other people's lives to make yourselves feel better about your shitty ones. Just stay away from my friends."

Harry could do nothing but stare in shock as Liam stormed away from his former friends and towards Harry and Zayn. Niall seemed somewhat dazed and no doubt as shocked as the others. It took him a moment before he was hurrying after Liam.

"Thanks, mate," Harry choked out as Liam approached. He hoped the emotion in his voice wasn't too obvious. Liam wasn't really one to come out and say things like that, and Harry was feeling unbelievably light and happy after hearing his friend's ardent defense of him.

Liam looked at the ground as if embarrassed about what had just taken place. Harry pulled his first friend from Tintagel into a hug. Harry knew that Liam wasn't used to that much physical contact. It had taken him months before he started relaxing when one of the other boys would wrap their arms around him or something of the sort. It was a testament to how far he had come that Liam actually pulled Harry closer and muttered, "Love you, mate," in a quiet voice, meant only for Harry to hear.

Harry smiled brightly. "Love you too, Liam," he whispered.

"As touching as this moment is," Niall's loud voice broke up the hug. "We have class."

The blonde motioned to the now almost deserted hallway. Glancing at his watch, Harry saw that they had one minute to get to class. "Shit," he muttered, and not bothering to so much as glance at his friends, he hurried off to his class on the opposite side of the building.


	10. Chapter 10

"So," Liam spoke immediately upon sitting down at their usual lunch table. "I was just wondering, when was the last time any of you spoke to Louis?"

Even though the question was addressed to all three of the boys, Liam's eyes settled on Harry, who sighed.

"Two weeks," Harry mumbled as he stared down at his food. "I went to see him the day after you confronted Bo, and he just kind of brushed me off. He's managed to avoid me completely since then."

Niall spoke up around a mouthful of food. "Whenever I call him, he's really quiet. If I stop talking, then everything just gets all quiet and awkward. I still tried, but about a week and a half ago I finally gave up. I figured giving him some space would be good."

"Same here," Zayn said. "I called him a week ago, and he wouldn't really tell me anything."

Liam shook his head. "I called him for at least the third time this week last night, and he didn't pick up. That's why I was asking. The other times he at least answered."

"I wonder what's up with him?" Despite Niall's question, all three boys turned towards Harry. It may have been unspoken, but they all knew the source of Louis' distance. Harry was so far the only one he'd outright avoided after all.

Liam cleared his throat after a few moments of silence. "Well, I was thinking we could all go together and try to talk to him today."

"What?" Harry stared at his friend in shock. "Just show up on his doorstep and beg him to be our friend again when he obviously doesn't want to be?"

The other three boys seemed shocked at Harry's outburst, but Harry was taking Louis' avoidance hard. Not even Harry was sure when anger had replaced disappointment, but the boy knew there was no way he was going to grovel at Louis' feet when Louis was the one who should be apologizing.

"We're not going to beg him to do anything," Liam explained calmly while continuing to look curiously at Harry. "We're just going to talk to him and see what's going on. Maybe we can help sort things out. Not talking about it because you're angry at him will only make it worse."

Harry fought the temptation to make a snide comment to Liam. He knew it wasn't really Liam he was angry at, and he didn't need to start any problems with another one of his friends. Instead, Harry settled for glaring at a French bean and stabbing it with his fork.

There was a tense moment of silence as Harry's three friends watched him warily. Finally, Liam sighed and spoke again, "So, Niall. Zayn. You guys in?"

"Yeah," Zayn muttered softly.

Niall's reply was brighter in tone, "Of course."

Liam looked back at Harry. "If you don't care enough, then I'll drop you off on our way to Louis' house, but you and I both know you'll regret it."

Those words were all it took for Harry's anger to fall away and be replaced by the sadness it had been covering. "I'll come," he whispered just loud enough for his three friends to hear.

Liam's frown was replaced by a much softer expression as he placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Knew you'd come around, mate. We'll fix this. I promise."

"I hope so," Harry sighed as he pushed his beans around his tray.

Sure enough, Harry found himself outside Louis' house three hours later with Liam, Zayn, and Niall. His heart was pounding quickly in his chest as the four boys walked up the pathway leading to Louis' family home. For the last several hours, Harry had been trying to decide just what he wanted to say to Louis, yet he had nothing. The other three boys didn't look all that confident either. None of them were entirely sure what was up with Louis, so how were they supposed to confront him about it?

"We'll just try and figure out what's wrong first," Liam muttered quietly as they neared the door. "Don't accuse him of anything. Let's just see what he tells us."

Before any of the other boys could say anything, Liam rang the doorbell. Harry shifted anxiously as footsteps sounded from the opposite side of the door. A small sigh of relief left Harry as the door opened and revealed Jay instead of Louis. The woman smiled at the four boys and motioned for them to come inside.

"I haven't seen you boys in a while," she said. Harry could tell that their presence made her happy. "Louis has been moping around so much lately but keeps insisting things are fine. Hopefully you boys can cheer him up." She moved to the bottom of the steps and called up, "Louis! Your friends are here."

They could hear sudden movement from upstairs and several moments later Louis appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What are you lot doing here?" Louis questioned as he slowly began his descent down the stairs.

Jay smiled slightly at the boys once more before heading into the living room and giving the five boys some privacy in the hall.

"We came to talk to you," Liam stated as if this should have been inherently obvious to the older boy.

Louis' fidgeted nervously. "What about?" he tried to sound confused even though the other four boys could clearly tell that it was an act.

Liam sighed, "Look, Louis. Can we please just talk about whatever the hell is going on with you without you pretending everything is fine?"

Louis sighed, "Fine." He took a glance down the hall towards the living room where some cartoon could be heard playing. No doubt Louis' younger sisters were gathered around the TV. "My room then," Louis said softly as he began leading the other four boys up the stairs.

Harry looked around at the messy room that he hadn't stepped foot in for a few weeks. It hit him again how much he loved this room because of how obviously Louis it was. Harry took a seat on the bed next to Louis but much farther from the older boy than he would have sat just weeks ago. He pushed aside the jealousy he felt when Niall plopped down right next to Louis and draped an arm around the older boy's shoulders.

"What's up, mate?" Niall asked as if it was just any other day and Louis hadn't been blowing them off lately.

"Not much," Louis muttered while looking at the floor. "Just work and stuff."

After a few moments of silence it became clear that Louis wasn't going to elaborate anymore.

"So that's why you've been so weird on the phone the past couple of weeks?" Liam questioned skeptically. "It's just work?"

Louis sighed, clearly understanding that he wasn't going to be able to lie. "Not completely," he admitted quietly. "I just- I've had a lot to think about lately, okay? Nothing's wrong. I just need to figure some things out."

The other three boys seemed sympathetic, but Harry's mind was on overload. What were Louis' words supposed to mean? Think about what? His relationship with Harry? It had to be. This had all started when Harry came out. But why was this so hard for Louis? Harry's sexuality was Harry's problem, not Louis'. Unless Louis was somehow upset about Harry's sexuality, which made no sense. Harry knew that couldn't be the problem. That left him with only one possible conclusion: Louis was scared about what this meant when it came to his relationship with Harry. He was scared of them becoming more. And for some reason that just really pissed Harry off.

"Figure what out exactly?" Harry snapped as he rose from the bed. It had come out harsher than he'd expected, and the other four boys snapped to attention as if slightly alarmed at their friend's sudden anger.

Louis stuttered as he tried to form coherent words. After a few moments, Louis gave up and just stared at Harry. For a tense moment Harry glared at Louis who looked back with such a lost and confused look on his face that it took all of Harry's willpower not to kiss him right then. Just as he was about to give in, he ripped his eyes from Louis' and bolted towards the door. The other four boys just watching him leave in shock.

Liam, Zayn, and Niall all turned to look at Louis, who was staring forlornly towards the door that Harry had just exited. Zayn sighed before scooting over on the bed so he could lay a hand on Louis' shoulder.

"You two really need to sort out your issues, mate," Zayn spoke quietly.

"What issues?" Louis asked in a half-hearted attempt to appear clueless.

"We're serious, Louis," Liam said sternly. "This is getting ridiculous. Harry's out to the whole school now. We all know you two are perfect for each other. Why the hell can't you just talk to him? If he knew what happened-"

"No!" Louis stood up from the bed angrily. "This has nothing to do with that. That was almost a year ago. I'm over it." He didn't even sound convincing to himself. "I just don't think that anything should happen between Harry and me. It wouldn't work out. I'll be off at uni next year. He'll still be here in Tintagel..."

"Can you stop for a minute and just think about how ridiculous you sound?" Liam was growing angry, and Louis probably would have found that slightly worrying if he'd bothered to care about anything more than his frantic desire to escape this conversation.

"I'm not ridiculous," Louis stared down at the bed, unable to look at the other boys any longer.

"You kind of are, mate." It was the quietest Louis had ever heard Niall speak. "I've never seen anything like you two," he continued. "Do you have any idea how Harry stares at you? You probably don't because more than half the time it's when you're not looking. That boy worships the ground you walk on, and what's even more amazing is that you worship him just as much. Or at least I thought you did. You've been treating him so shitty since he came out that I'm not so sure anymore."

"I'm not trying to hurt him," Louis' voice broke.

"Yes, you are," Niall said. "You know exactly what you're doing. Don't lie."

"I don't want to hurt him," Louis choked out as he buried his face in his hands.

"Then why are you?" Zayn questioned quietly. "I don't understand..."

"I- I can't- Please, don't make me talk about it," Louis stammered.

Liam's voice was menacing as he spoke, "That's the problem, Louis. We're your best friends, and you refuse to talk to us. You're more important to Harry than anyone else in this world, and yet you still don't trust him enough to talk to him. Instead you're pushing him away like an idiot. I know that Bo-"

"Stop!" Louis yelled suddenly. He jumped up from the bed, and screamed at Liam as he pushed him from the room. "Get out! Now! Just leave me the fuck alone! I told you that this had nothing to do with that. Can you all just leave me the fuck alone!?"

The other three boys were deadly silent as Louis collapsed on the floor in tears. Niall stepped forward and cautiously placed a hand on Louis' shoulder. The older boy shrunk away from Niall's touch as Niall spoke softly, "Just come to us when you're ready."

And with that, the three boys left their broken friend in peace.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the penultimate chapter, so I really hope you all enjoy it! I should have the final chapter posted in just a few days.

Six weeks go by, and school closes for the summer. Liam and Zayn graduate, while Harry and Niall commiserate with each other over their one year of schooling left at Wadebridge. Although no one says anything, all four of them are disappointed when Louis doesn't bother to show up for the graduation. No one's seen him in the month and a half since the confrontation, and it's getting worrisome.

Liam insisted that Louis would come to his senses eventually, but Harry wasn't so sure. He doesn't think Louis will confront them again at all, and it makes Harry kind of mad to be honest. Harry knows that Louis is probably sorry about the whole thing but too ashamed to talk to them. This knowledge should probably make Harry make the first move, but the boy is far too angry to even consider it. Or at least he had been. Weeks ago.

Now, Harry's not so sure. He's been a mess without Louis. Sure, he finished the school year with just as good of grades as he's always gotten. He's done all of the things he's always done (at least what he can do without Louis). And he's done most of it with a smile on his face. But there's still something missing, and Harry's beginning to think that it doesn't matter who did what as long as he can have Louis back in his life.

Harry may not have spoken to Louis in a month and a half, but he still knows exactly where to begin looking. Lo and behold, Harry reaches the castle ruins just as Louis is leaving from his shift. Louis appears startled at first, but his expression quickly changes to one of resignation, as if he knew this day was coming and it was only a matter of time. And Harry figures that at some level Louis must want this confrontation to happen because otherwise he would have changed his work schedule to one that Harry didn't have memorized by heart. That thought alone only strengthens Harry's belief that this has been a long time coming, and there's no way Harry's letting Louis escape this time. This time he will figure out what is going on.

"Hi," Louis mumbles quietly as he glances forlornly at the ground. His right foot begins scratching at the grass as if he is suddenly nervous and unable to stop himself from constantly moving about.

"Hi," Harry replies as he walks past Louis and makes sure to grab the older boy's hand on the way. He marches straight to the ruins of the great hall: their spot. It's a busy day for the ruins, with tourists absolutely everywhere on the beautiful June day. Harry doesn't bother to hide his emotional expression though, and the few tourists milling around this particular area seem to catch on rather quickly that something is up with these two boys and scatter away. When it's just the two of them in earshot, Harry finally turns to face Louis again.

"We need to talk," Harry begins because he's not really sure how else to start this conversation. Before he'd had a clear idea of what he wanted to say to Louis. He'd planned it all out for days even, but now, standing in front of the boy who'd become his best friend, all of that planning flew out the window. Louis was looking at him with such a panicked expression that Harry almost gave up. He would have told Louis right then that he never had to explain himself if he didn't want to, but at the same time, Harry sensed something else. The younger boy knew that the older one truly did want to tell the truth. The problem was that it was just too hard to, and that was what gave Harry the courage to demand the truth.

"I know," Louis whispered quietly.

Harry didn't bother to say anything. Louis knew what he wanted, and any words from Harry would have been wasted in that moment. It was Louis who needed to speak. It took a few moments, but finally, Louis had gathered his thoughts enough to begin talking.

"I guess I should admit that you're right about me distancing myself to you because you came out. I know that looks bad, like I'm homophobic or something, but you know that's not it. I already knew really, but the confirmation just kind of shocked me. Because I'd been falling for you since you walked in the souvenir shop in September and bought that stupid key ring, and I sensed that you were falling for me too. Knowing that you were gay basically confirmed that for me."

Harry sucked in a sharp breath as Louis admitted his feelings. He wanted to jump for joy and wrap the older boy in his arms, but he couldn't do that. Not yet. There was too much more left to say.

"For most people, that would have been great. The person you like liking you back is supposed to be good. But..." Louis was quiet for a moment as if he was unsure how to continue.

"I've been with exactly one guy in my life, and it didn't end so well."

Harry knew this story wasn't going to end well, and he felt his stomach start to churn.

"It was about a year ago now. I'd been out for two years, and no one really paid me much mind. I'd never been in a relationship before because you can't exactly find a lot of guys open to that here in Tintagel, you know? But then, someone finally began showing interest."

Louis glanced up at Harry for the first time since he'd begun his story with a nervous look on his face.

"You know Liam's old friend Bo, right?"

The churning of Harry's stomach became even worse as he nodded slightly.

"He started coming on to me all the time, and I was kind of thrilled since it had never happened before. I knew he was an arsehole, but he can really sweet talk people when he wants to. He always told me that we had to keep our relationship a secret. I knew he was scared of what people would think if they knew he was gay, so I agreed."

Louis scoffed slightly, "It was probably the biggest mistake of my life."

Harry reached out and took one of Louis' hands in his own, and Louis gripped it tightly as he continued.

"Bo's little sister walked in on us once. Let's just say that Bo's attitude is a family thing. The next thing we knew our relationship was all over school. This is the part of the story that the others all know about. I figured we would face some shit, but it would all be okay. What could they really do?"

Tears were now beginning to fall down Louis' cheeks, and Harry felt his own eyes begin to water.

"As it turns out, Bo's fear of being gay outweighed his feelings for me. He broke up with me, and then told the entire school that I'd forced myself on him. He claimed he'd invited me to his house to do school work, and his sister had walked in on me trying to 'seduce' him. He started saying all of these horrible things, and of course all of his friends, with the exception of Liam, joined in. The reason I'm not at university this year is because my mum didn't want me going off alone so soon after everything. She said I needed time to 'emotionally recover.'"

Harry finally allowed himself to wrap his arms around Louis, who sunk into the embrace gratefully.

"I'm scared," Louis murmured quietly into Harry's shoulder. "I know I shouldn't be. You're nothing like Bo, and I know that. But I just-"

Sobs wracked through Louis' body as he struggled to continue.

"That's the only experience I have, and he completely betrayed me, Harry. I don't think I could go through that again, and no matter how much I tell myself that it'd be different with you, there's still this part of me that is utterly terrified of taking that chance."

"Louis," Harry finally spoke as he nuzzled his face into Louis' hair. "I will never make you do anything you don't want to do. If that means being your friend and never taking our relationship farther, then I'll do it. I need you in my life, Louis, and I want you around no matter what kind of relationship it is. If you really think about it, our friendship isn't really all that different than a romantic relationship other than the physical stuff, and I don't need that stuff. I just need you."

Harry gently tugged Louis' chin up so that the older boy was looking at him.

"I love you," Harry breathed quietly.

The two boys stared at each other intensely for a few moments before Louis leaned forward to press his lips against Harry's own. He pulled back briefly to murmur, "I love you too," against Harry's lips before deepening the kiss. Neither one paid any mind to the tourists surrounding them.

"Louis," Harry spoke softly as they broke apart from the kiss. He held Louis' face in his hands and looked him straight in the eye. "I want you to know that I won't ever do anything to purposefully hurt you."

Louis nodded and smiled softly up at Harry. "I know. I knew that the whole time. I just- I was just being stupid I guess."

Harry shook his head fervently. "No, don't say that. I understand why you were scared. What Bo did was horrible, but I never want you to have to go through that again. Okay? I'm going to make sure you never go through that again."

Louis murmured, "Thank you," as Harry pulled him to his chest. Harry responded by pressing a quick kiss on Louis' forehead.


	12. Chapter 12

"In just a few months we'll be living here," Louis said in awe as he gazed around at the empty flat that he, Liam, and Zayn had finally decided on.

An unhappy scoff caused Louis to turn towards his boyfriend with a small smirk and wrap an arm around his waist.

"It won't be that bad, Harry," he reassured the younger boy as he placed a quick kiss on his lips. "I'll only be a little more than an hour away."

"I know," Harry pouted. "But I want you to be in Tintagel with me."

Louis smiled softly at Harry's childlike temper tantrum. "We only have a year until you'll be in Exeter as well," he reminded Harry.

They'd had this conversation at least ten times in the past two weeks. Harry was more reluctant for Louis to leave than ever now that they were finally together, and Louis found it endearing, if somewhat annoying at times. After all, Harry really had nothing to worry about, and Exeter wasn't that long of a drive. With Harry preparing to take his driving test, the two boys would be sure to see each other frequently, something that both boys knew even if it didn't always get rid of the sadness.

"Well," Liam announced as he entered the living room for the hall in the back. "Zayn and I have decided on bedrooms. You're getting the one farthest down the hall."

"Not fair!" Louis exclaimed. "Why don't I get a say in this?"

"Because," Zayn rolled his eyes as he and Niall came down the hall as well, "we want to hear absolutely nothing when Harry's here. I swear, if I hear one thing that goes on between you two in that bedroom, you're both getting kicked out. Those are images that I don't need."

Louis smirked a little as he nuzzled into Harry's neck. "And what about Liam and Danielle?" he questioned.

"She'll be all the way in London, Louis," Liam reminded him. "I doubt she'll be here much."

"English National Ballet School," Niall chuckled softly. "I can't believe you're dating a ballerina."

Liam shoved Niall's shoulder softly. "She's been doing ballet since before we started dating. Why can't you believe it now?"

"Because she's going to a real ballet school," Niall said. "Not that small one in Wadebridge where every little girl goes, but an actual, prestigious dance school that trains professionals. How many people even do that? That's cool. Why'd she choose you?"

"Very funny," Liam muttered. "Please tell me about the girl you've managed to get, Niall."

Instead of looking at all offended, Niall just laughed. "It'll happen someday," he said with a smile. "And you better believe she'll be cooler than your girlfriend."

"As wonderful as this conversation is," Harry interrupted. "I think it's time to be heading to dinner."

The other boys agreed, and the five of them headed out into Exeter, where they planned on eating before making the drive back to Wadebridge and Tintagel.

"I think we'll start moving in next month," Liam spoke as the five boys settled down in a booth at the nearest McDonald's. Harry had been hoping for something a bit nicer, but Liam had reminded him that three of them had to start paying rent in a few weeks.

"I want to be settled in before classes start in September," Liam continued.

Louis snorted, "You're moving to university, Liam. You're not getting married. 'Settled in.' The way your mind works, mate." The words were spoken fondly, if a little disbelieving.

"I just don't want to be worrying about unpacking boxes while adjusting to classes and studying," Liam defended himself. "How about moving in two weeks before the first day of classes?"

Zayn and Louis both agreed, and the conversation moved to non-university and moving related topics.

As much as Harry loved his friends, he loved spending time with his boyfriend even more, so on the walk back to the flat to get their things, Harry pulled Louis behind the other boys to talk in some semblance of privacy.

Their hands were locked together as they walked through the dark streets of Exeter. Both of them were grinning slightly at what their friends were getting up to ahead of them. Niall in particular seemed full of energy, and Harry thought ruefully of the next year when it would be just him and Niall at Wadebridge.

A quiet sigh from Louis broke Harry out of his melancholy thoughts. "You have got to stop thinking about it constantly," Louis whispered sadly. "It will all be fine."

"I know it will." Harry squeezed Louis' hand briefly to back up his words. "I just don't want to be away from you."

"Me either," Louis spoke as his frown deepened. "After this year though, you and Niall will be here in Exeter with us, and everything will be perfect."

Harry's face brightened, and he leaned down to kiss Louis briefly. "I can't wait for that."

"And who knows," Louis looked at the ground as he spoke, and Harry could see redness creeping up his cheeks even in the dark. "Maybe we'll never have to leave each other's sides ever again."

Harry was now smiling as widely as possible. He reached under Louis' chin and pulled his face up to make eye contact. "I really can't wait for that."

This time they didn't break the kiss quickly. Both boys seemed to forget that they were standing on a city pavement. Then, just as Harry began to deepen the kiss, a voice rang out, "Oi! Hurry your arses up! We are not going to stand here and wait for you two to get finished snogging."

Louis groaned as Harry reluctantly pulled away. When Louis flipped him off, Niall just laughed loudly and got in the car. Zayn and Liam followed the blond as Zayn yelled out, "Hurry up, you two!"

Harry placed a quick kiss on Louis' cheek and grabbed his hand again to pull him towards the car. "Later," he whispered in his boyfriend's ear as they went to join their friends in the car.

Louis smirked a bit as he spoke, "I'll hold you to that."

One Year Later

"I think that's everything," Louis said as he sat the box down on the ground and glanced around the new flat. With Harry and Niall both starting at the University of Exeter this month, Louis had decided to give his room in the old flat up to Niall. He and Harry had been lucky enough to find another flat in the same building that they were currently in the process of moving into together.

"Now we just have to unpack," Harry groaned as his eyes roved over the stacks of boxes taking up most of the living room floor.

"Can't that wait?" Louis asked hopefully as he sat down on top of one of the larger boxes. "We can just unpack as we need things."

Harry looked tempted but refused to give in. "Then we'd never be able to find anything. Someone didn't label any of his boxes."

Louis made an indignant noise. "Hey! I was just glad to be able to fit everything in there. I wasn't worrying about what was in what."

Harry pulled open the nearest box. "See," he said amusedly. "You have both clothes and utensils in this one. You'll never find anything if we don't unpack."

"Can we at least break in the bedroom first?" Louis smirked.

"There aren't any sheets on the mattress," Harry reminded him with a smirk of his own.

"Who needs sheets?"

Harry's nose wrinkled, "Bare mattresses freak me out."

Louis rolled his eyes though he appeared more amused than anything. "Fine. Do you happen to know where any sheets are?"

"We decided that you would pack those."

"Shit," Louis' smile dropped slightly as he looked at the massive amount of boxes around them. "That's unfortunate."

Harry didn't have the chance to answer before three people could be heard entering the flat.

"Thanks for knocking, guys," Harry called out to their three best friends as they came into view.

"What?" Niall questioned as he pushed some boxes off the couch to make room. "You literally just got done carrying in boxes. Please don't tell me the two of you were going to christen the place already."

The three boys began laughing as Louis and Harry exchanged sheepish looks.

"Well," Liam smirked. "I suppose the two of you don't want help unpacking all of this then."

"Yes!" Louis exclaimed. "Please help us! I think I've gotten more junk over the past year."

"I told you that you had a shopping problem, mate." Zayn shook his head fondly.

Louis grumbled as he bent over to begin pulling things from one of the boxes. "What's the point of having money if you can't buy fun things every now and then?"

"Being able to pay the rent and buy food," Liam muttered before having to dodge the pillow that Louis threw his way.

The five boys worked in silence for several minutes before Louis exclaimed loudly, "Hey, Harry! I found the sheets!"

Niall, Zayn, and Liam glanced at each other in amusement before Niall spoke with barely contained laughter, "Maybe we should go now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! I'm really happy to finally have this entire thing posted. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it. I really hope you enjoyed it!


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